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(En&otorti  bv  W&t  ^Dialectic 

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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 

00010260282 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 
DIALECTIC  AND  PHILANTHROPIC 

fcMtai   S0QETIES 


ELM 
.M39 
MICROFILMED  8Y  THE  UNC 


J 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  ( 


.  A.  H 


0002000184 


WORCESTER,  MASS. 


This  book  is  due  at  the  LOUIS  R   WILSON  iirpapv       (l 

r„eSe  biard  undcr  "Da,e  Due- " °°-  ™™*  nS'S 

renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library.  y 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://archive.org/details/lifeofisaacmasonOOmaso 


d  f<  €Z--C- 


■  trtii. O-^V  . 


Wilson  f\on< 

M 


LIFE     OF 


ISAAC    MASON 


AS     A     SLAVE. 


WOBCESTER,   MASS. 
1893. 


„-■ 


(0 


Worcester,  Mass.,  July  19,  1893. 

I  have  known  Isaac  Mason  very  well  since  1850.  He 
has  done  a  great  deal  of  work  for  me  and  ray  household.  I 
know  him  to  be  an  honest,  faithful  and  intelligent  man.  I 
have  not  had  time  to  examine  his  book  in  manuscript,  but  I 
am  sure  his  statements  may  be  trusted,  and  that  his  experi- 
ence will  prove  very  interesting.    I  hope  his  book  will  have  a 

t 

good  sale,  and  commend  it  to  the  public. 

Geo.  F.  Hoar. 


PREFACE 


Having  repeatedly  been  asked  by  my  many  friends  to 
write  the  history  of  my  life  as  a  slave,  especially  by  some 
who  have  heard  me  lecture  on  certain  portions  of  that  ever 
memorable  period  of  my  life,  I  have,  after  some  hesitation 
as  to  its  advisability,  reluctantly  concluded  to  accede  to 
their  wishes,  and  now  present  to  them  a  truthful  sketch 
of  my  eventful  life  in  the  dark  days  of  slavery.  As  these 
checkered  scenes  of  my  early  life  reflectively  present  them- 
selves to  my  mind  at  my  advanced  state  of  life,  I  wonder 
how  I  withstood  all  the  abuse  and  cruelty  of  these  early 
years.  Our  lives  are  largely  composed  of  sorrow  and  joy, 
but  my  cup,  it  seems  to  me,  has  been  full  to  overflowing 
with  sorrow,  but  God  has  been  my  strength  and  my  salvation, 
and  has  brought  me  thus  far  in  the  journey  of  life,  and  in  him 
I  trust,  praying  that,  in  his  good  time  he  will  take  me  to 
that  heavenly  home  where  our  earthly  trials  will  cease  and 
where  there  will  be  no  more  sorrow. 

My  story  is  told  in  a  plain  matter-of-fact  way,  and  I  hope 
my  readers  will  overlook  and  excuse  the  defects  which  must 
necessarily  abound  throughout  the  book,  owing  to  lack  of 
educational  advantages. 

ISAAC   MASON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EAKLIEST     RECOLLECTIONS. 

In  Kent  County,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  of 
Maryland,  there  was  at  the  time  of  my  earliest  recollections 
(and  I  suppose  it  yet  remains),  a  small  town  known  as  George 
Town  Cross  Oats,  having  a  population  of  about  500  or  600. 
It  was  in  this  town,  on  the  14th  day  of  May,  1822,  A.  D., 
that  I  inhaled  my  first  supply  of  air,  that  my  eyes,  for 
the  first  time,  were  brought  in  contact  with  the  beautiful 
light  surrounding  the  terrestrial  world,  the  earthly  home  of 
mankind,  and  the  first  sound  of  my  infant  voice  was  raised 
in  shrill  cries  for  a  mother's  tender  care  and  parental  affec- 
tion. This  was  the  place  of  my  nativity  and  the  date  of  my 
birth.  It  was  also  the  time  that  my  mistress  became  the 
owner  of  one  more  slave  and  so  much  richer  by  my  birth. 
My  mother  was,  unfortunately,  numbered  in  the  family  of 
slavedom,  belonging  to  one  Mrs.  Hannah  Woodland,  and 
according  to  the  institution  of  slave  law,  I  legally,  or  illegally, 
became  her  property.  Though  my  father  was  a  free  man  still 
he  had  no  claim  to  me.  My  mother's  name  was  Sophia 
Thompson,  and  she  served  in  the  capacity  of  house  servant. 
She  was  the  mother  of  five  children,  four  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter, of  whom  I  was  the  first  born,  and  William  Anderson,  of 
the  city  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  the  second.  My  father, 
Zekiel  Thompson,  was,  as  I  said,  a  free  man,  and  most  of  his 
time  served  as  a  farm  hand  on  one  of  the  farms  owned  by  my 
mistress.     Whether  from  his  activity  and  knowledge  of  farm 


10  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

work  or  as  an  inducement  to  remain  near  his  wife,  I  do  not 
know,  but  he  was  permitted  to  hold  the  position  of  overseer 
of  the  work  and  farm  hands. 

My  mistress,  Mrs.  H.  Woodland,  was  a  widow — her  hus- 
band being  a  sea  captain  and  lost  at  sea  before  I  was  born 
or  had  any  knowledge  of  him.  They  were  both  natives  of 
Scotland.  He  owned  two  farms,  and  at  his  death  his  wife 
became  the  owner  of  both,  carrying  on  business  until  the 
time  of  her  death.  She  was  the  mother  of  five  children, 
one  son  and  four  daughters.  I  The  son,  Samuel  Woodland, 
who  was  said  to  be  rich,  owning  two  farms,  several  houses, 
and  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  slaves, 
was,  as  near  as  language  can  express  it,  a  lifetime  tyrant 
to  his  farm  hands  and  house  servants.  His  tyranical 
passion  was  so  great  that  on  the  day  of  his  death  he 
called  in  the  men  from  their  work,  and  with  a  stick  in  his 
dying  hand  struck  each  one  across  their  hands.  As  each 
one  received  the  parting  gift  he  had  to  file  out  and  another 
take  his  place.  This  ceremony  continued  to  within  two  hours 
of  his  death,  when  from  exhaustion  he  had  to  cease.  Those 
who  were  on  the  end  of  the  line  of  march  on  that  day 
fortunately  lost  their  master's  parting  blessing.  My  mis- 
tress was  naturally  of  a  good  disposition,  just  the  reverse 
of  her  son,  or  he  from  her.  My  grandfather  (my  mother's 
father)  had  charge  of  the  farm  hands  and  all  that  pertained 
to  the  farm,  as  he  was  considered  faithful  and  trustworthy. 
The  principal  products  of  the  farms  were  corn,  wheat  and 
oats.  Infant  years  rapidly  passed  by  and  the  time  drew 
near  when  little  Will,  alias  Isaac,  had  to  leave  his  mother's 
knee  and  childish  play  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  serving 
his  owners. 


AS    A   SLAVE.  11 

Accordingly,  when  between  five  and  six  years  of  age, 
I  was  assigned  to  the  duties  of  housework,  to  wait  on  ray 
mistress  and  to  run  errands.  When  she  went  out  driving 
I  had  to  accompany  her  in  the  capacity  of  a  page, 
to  open  the  gates  and  to  take  down  guard  fences  for  her 
to  drive  through.  That  I  might  be  found  at  night  as  well 
as  by  day  my  sleeping  apartment  was  in  her  chamber  on  a 
truckbed,  which  was  during  the  day  time  snugly  concealed 
under  her  bedstead  and  drawn  out  at  night  for  the  reposing 
place  of  Isaac's  weary  body  while  he  dreamed  of  days  yet 
to  come.  I  remained  in  this  distinguished  position  until  I 
was  about  fifteen  years  old,  when  a  change  in  common  with 
all  slave  life  had  to  be  made  either  for  the  better  or  for  the 
worse. 

On  the  day  that  proved  to  be  her  last  to  be  spent  on 
this  earth  I  was  required  to  accompany  her  on  a  visit  to 
the  farm,  the  second  farm,  which  was  not  so  frequently 
visited,  where  she  spent  the  afternoon  in  looking  over  the 
stock  and  products  which  detained  her  until  towards  even- 
ing. Her  examinations  were  completed  and  she  returned 
home.  This  visit  was  made  in  the  gig  drawn  by  the  old 
black  mare.  My  place  was,  as  customary,  by  her  side. 
We  arrived  home  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  She 
told  me  to  ' '  take  care  of  the  old  mare ' '  ;  that  meant  to 
unharness  and  put  her  in  the  stable,  and  when  I  had  com- 
pleted my  task  to  ' c  come  to  her,  as  she  wanted  me  to  go 
on  an  errand."  I  obeyed  her  orders  and  went  direct 
to  her  chamber,  where  I  found  her  lying  on  the  floor  in  an 
unconscious  state  and  unable  to  speak. 

I  immediately  ran  down  stairs  and  informed  my  mother 
how  I  had  found  mistress.     She  sent  me  at  once  after  Mrs. 


12  LIFE    OS    [SAAC   MASON 

Island,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  H.  Woodland,  who  lived  about 
half  a  mile  from  us.  Upon  hearing  the  sad  news  she  hur- 
ried with  me  back  to  the  house  and  sent  for  the  doctor. 
He  lost  no  time  in  attending  to  the  call,  and  did  all  he 
could  to  restore  her  to  cousciousness  and  life,  but  his  med- 
ical skill  failed  to  produce  a  favorable  result.  About  11 
o'clock  that  right  she  died,  as  the  doctor  said,  from  a 
stroke  of  paralysis.  The  last  words  she  was  known  to 
utter  were  the  orders  she  gave  me  that  evening.  Thus 
ended  the  life  of  mistress  at  the  age  of  ninety  years. 

My  grandfather,  Richard  Graham  Grimes,  was  sent 
down  that  night  to  a  place  called  Morgan's  Creek,  to  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Hugh  Wallace,  to  come  up  immediately  and 
make  arrangements  for  the  funeral.  His  first  wife  was  the 
daughter  of  my  mistress.  He  lost  no  time  in  answering 
the  summons  and  attended  to  all  the  necessary  require- 
ments for  the  obsequies,  and  on  the  third  day  after  her 
death  my  mistress  was  consigned  to  mother  earth. 

At  last  the  day  dawned  when  this  group  of  slaves 
had  to  part,  not  only  from  the  old  homestead  but  from 
each  other,  and  to  go  to  scenes  and  climes  unknown  to 
them.  At  last  the  sunshine  was  passing  and  the  gloom 
fast  overspreading.  Mother  and  children,  brothers  and 
sisters  to  separate,  perhaps  forever. 

The  farm  with  all  of  its  contents  were  left,  for  the  time 
being,  under  the  care  and  supervision  of  my  grandfather. 
He  continued  to  hold  charge  till  July  of  the  same  year, 
about  the  space  of  three  months,  at  which  time  Mr.  H. 
Wallace  appeared  on  the  estate  to  make  arrangements  for 
settling  the  affairs.  Everything  belonging  to  the  estate 
excepting  the  slaves  were  sold.     The  farm  with  its  contents 


AS   A    SLAVE.  13 

was  bought  by  a  mau  by  the  name  of  Isaac  Taylor.  My 
grandfather,  in  consideration  of  his  old  age  and  the  time 
being  past  for  useful  labor,  was  handsomely  rewarded  with  his 
freedom,  an  old  horse  called  the  "old  bay  horse" — which 
was  also  past  the  stage  of  usefulness  —  and  an  old  cart ;  but, 
alas!  no  home  to  live  in  or  a  place  to  shelter  his  head  from 
the  storm. 

My  father,  as  I  said  before,  was  a  free  man  and  had  the 
privilege  of  purchasing  my  mother  and  my  sister,  who  was 
then  about  a  year  old,  for  $600.  My  mother  at  this  time 
was  in  very  ill  health,  and  it  was  thought  by  many  she 
could  not  live  very  long.  My  father  not  being  able  to  pay 
the  amount  asked,  had  to  find  a  sufficient  security  before  he 
could  obtain  a  bill  of  sale.  He  was  fortunate  enough  to 
find  that  assistance  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Hyde,  with  whom 
I  was  soon  to  become  personally  acquainted.  The  remainder 
of  the  slaves  each  received  a  note  from  the  hands  of  Mr.  H. 
Wallace,  and  were  directed  by  him  to  carry  it  to  a  certain 
person  named  by  him,  which  act  showed  that  each  slave  had 
been  previously  disposed  of.  Some  were  sold  and  some 
were  hired  out  for  a  certain  time  to  pay  debts  due  by  the 
estate. 

I  received  my  little  note  and  was  told  to  carry  it  to 
Dr.  Hyde,  who  was  liviug  in  the  same  place  where  I  was 
born.  1  was  not  sold,  but  only  hired  out  to  pay  a  small  bill 
of  $25  which  would  not  take  very  long  as  regards  to  time, 
but  by  an  economical  table  of  work  I  was  destined  to  fill 
the  place  of  more  than  one  servant.  The  Doctor  and  his 
considerate  wife  were  determined  to  utilize  my  whole  time 
in  their  service.  My  work  at  this  place  consisted  in  cook- 
ing, washing,  sweeping,  taking  care  of  the  horses,  attending 


14  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

to  the  garden,  which  contained  about  half  an  acre  of  land, 
and  milking  two  cows.  The  good  training  of  my  former 
mistress  had  very  materially  fitted  me  for  the  varied  duties 
of  this  house.  By  hard  work  early  and  late  I  could  accom- 
plish my  daily  tasks. 

Some  persons  may  suppose  that  by  accomplishing  all 
this  work  in  one  day  would  satisfy  au  employer,  master  or 
mistress,  but  satisfaction  was  hard  to  find.  I  was  only 
the  property  of  another,  working  to  pay  the  debt  of  another, 
who  I  suppose  thought  he  ought  to  receive  interest  on  his 
bill ;  and  that  interest  had  to  be  paid  by  me  in  addition  to 
the  daily  labor,  by  receiving  a  whipping  every  day  besides 
losing  a  meal  —  either  a  breakfast,  a  dinner,  or  a  supper  — 
according  to  their  best  judgment.  Some  may  wonder  which 
I  regretted  most,  the  whipping  or  the  meal.  I  sorrowed  the 
loss  of  the  meal  more  than  anything  else.  To  me  this  cer- 
tainly was  a  great  punishment. / 

The  last  day  I  stayed  with  the  Doctor  he  told  me  that 
he  wanted  me  to  stay  at  home  for  he  was  going  away  and 
would  not  be  back  till  after  nightfall.  I  had  made  arrange- 
ments with  some  other  boys  to  go  rabbit  hunting.  Knowing 
it  was  Christmas  week,  and  I  was  not  bound  to  stay  there, 
as  my  time  was  out,  I  concluded  to  have  my  rabbit  hunt  as 
agreed;  so  off  I  went  with  my  associates.  I  did  not  get 
back  to  the  house  till  after  dark.  Wanting  to  complete  my 
day's  work  before  the  Doctor  arrived  I  made  my  way  into 
the  kitchen,  as  I  thought  unseen  by  any  person,  to  get  the 
milk  pail  which  was  always  kept  in  there,  and  milk  the 
cows.  Mrs.  Hyde,  the  Doctor's  wife,  saw  me,  skipped  out 
from  somewhere  and  locked  the  kitchen  door  behind  me. 
This  was  not  a  very  pleasant  situation,  for  a  slave  and  the 


AS    A    SLAVE.  15 

mistress  to  be  locked  up  in  the  same  room.  She  had  a 
purpose  in  view,  but  I  had  none  just  then;  my  future 
actions  had  to  be  governed  by  what  she  was  about  to  do. 
She  told  me  to  take  off  my  coat  so  that  she  could  give  me  a 
whipping  for  going  off.  According  to  her  orders  I  obeyed  ; 
then  she  commenced  work  in  right  good  earnest  with  her 
well  roasted  hickory  wottels.  Their  smarting  pains  did  not 
feel  pleasant  on  my  head  and  shoulders,  so  I  laid  hold  of 
them  and  contested  my  strength  with  the  fair  feminine 
tyrant.  In  the  struggle  for  victory  I  managed  to  jerk  her 
down  to  the  floor,  and  before  she  could  regain  her  feet  J 
jumped  out  of'  the  window ;  and  as  the  Doctor  had  not 
yet  arrived  home  I  made  good  my  safety. 

I  went  to  the  barn  and  crept  away  under  the  back  part 
of  the  hay,  where  I  knew  I  would  be  secure  for  the  night.  I 
stayed  there  lamenting  over  my  stripes  till  midnight;  then 
I  came  out  and  went  to  my  mother's,  which  was  about  half 
a  mile  off.  She  told  me  the  Doctor  had  been  there  hunting 
for  me.  Thinking  he  might  soon  return  I  did  not  stay  there 
very  long.  I  next  started  off  for  my  grandfather's,  which 
was  about  four  miles  away.  I  found  him  at  home  and  he  let 
me  in.  I  did  not  learn  that  my  pursuer  had  been  to  this 
place,  so  I  thought  myself  safe  for  a  while.  He  told  me 
he  had  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  H.  Wallace  directing 
him  to  bring  me  down  to  Morgan's  Creek,  as  the  Doctor 
had  nothing  more  to  do  with  me  and  that  I  was  going  to 
another  place. 

Next  morning  grandfather  arose,  shelled  a  bushel  of  corn 
and  was  going  to  Headchester  to  dispose  of  it  for  other 
necessary  comforts,  telling  me  I  might  go  along  with  him. 
Soon  the  old  bay  horse  and  cart,  the  legacy  from  the  Wood 


16  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

land  estate,  were  hitched  together  and  started  on  the  jour- 
ney. On  our  way  I  was  surprisingly  met  by  the  Doctor  on 
horseback.  As  soon  as  I  saw  him  I  crouched  down  in  the 
bottom  of  the  old  cart  thinking  to  avoid  him,  but  I  was 
much  mistaken.  His  keen  eye  had  caught  sight  of  me,  and 
no  doubt  his  breast  was  burning  with  revenge  on  account  of 
his  wife  having  to  kiss  the  kitchen  floor.  He  drew  near  to 
my  hiding-place  and  strove  his  best  to  cut  me  with  his 
horsewhip,  but  he  missed  me.  I  jumped  out  of  the  cart 
and  hid  in  the  fields  till  I  thought  he  was  gone.  When  I 
came  out  of  my  hiding-place  he  could  not  be  seen,  so  I 
joined  the  old  man  in  the  cart  once  more,  pursuing  our 
journey.  He  told  my  grandfather,  "If  he  did  not  have  me 
back  to  his  house  before  four  o'clock  that  day  he  would 
have  an  officer  after  me  and  have  me  back."  The  officer 
failed  to  come,  consequently  I  have  not  seen  the  Doctor  nor 
his  wife  since. 

This  Doctor  Hyde  had  become  security  for  the  payment 
of  the  $600  required  from  my  father  for  the  purchase  of  my 
mother  and  sister.  He  was  so  much  enraged  on  account  of 
this  trouble  with  me,  that  he  demanded  immediate  payment 
of  the  money.  This  brought  a  gloom  over  my  father  and 
mother's  humble  but  happy  home.  He  had  no  money  nor 
the  means  of  getting  it.  The  spiteful  bondsman  could  soon 
find  the  way  to  get  it,  and  that  was  by  selling  mother  and 
sister.  This  means  was  well  understood  by  them,  and  plans 
were  considered  to  avoid  this  sacrifice  when  mother  resolved 
to  take  her  young  child  and  flee  to  Baltimore,  Md.  Her 
conclusions  were  soon  put  in  practice,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  she  found  herself  and  child  in  that  famous  city. 
There  she  found  a  philanthropic  Quaker,  who  had  saved  a 


AS    A    SLAVE.  17 

great  number  of  families  from  being  separated  under  such 
circumstances.  He  told  her  be  would  furnish  her  with  the 
money  if  her  husband  would  make  out  a  bill  of  sale  for  the 
child  she  had  with  her.  She  sent  father  word  of  what  she 
found  in  way  of  a  partial  relief.  The  opportunity  was 
readily  embraced  by  him  and  he  hastened  to  Baltimore  and 
gave  the  bill  of  sale  for  my  sister,  which  was  to  last  till  she 
was  eighteen  years  old.  My  parents  further  agreed  that  in 
the  event  of  my  sister's  death  before  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  they  were  to  finish  out  the  time  or  give  sufficient  work 
to  the  value  of  the  amount.  All  was  finally  settled  and  they 
returned  to  George  Town  Cross  Oats,  minus  their  only 
daughter  that  they  had  to  sell  to  save  themselves.  My 
father  had  paid  H.  Wallace  $200  down,  which  left  $400  to 
be  raised  by  the  Quaker.  To  the  great  astonishment  of  the 
Doctor  father  called  and  paid  the  amount.  He  was  so  much 
perplexed  that  he  wanted  to  know  where  the  money  came 
from — supposing  it  had  been  stolen.  My  sister  remained 
with  the  Quaker  family  till  she  was  sixteen  years  old,  when 
they  gave  her  two  years  off  her  time.  This  generous  friend 
sent  for  my  father  to  come  to  Baltimore  and  emancipate 
both  my  mother  and  sister,  as  they  were  sold  under  debt. 
He  did  so,  and  consequently  they  were  all  three  free  people 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Maryland. 

To  return  to  my  own  personal  narrative — by  jumping 
from  the  old  cart  to  escape  from  Dr.  Hyde  and  rejoining 
grandfather.  We  rode  on  to  Headchester,  which  is  now 
known  as  Millerton,  remained  there  until  night  and  then 
returned  home.  I  stayed  there  all  night  and  next  morning 
after  breakfast  we  started  for  Morgan's  Creek,  which  was  to 
be  my  new  home.     We  had  to  ride  a  distance  of  twenty-two 


18  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

miles,  arriving  there  about  night.  This  was  New  Year's 
eve.  I  had  an  uncle  living  at  this  place  by  the  name  of  Joe 
Grimes.  His  wife  lived  in  Chestertown  with  the  same  man 
I  was  destined  to  live  with.  Mr.  H.  Wallace  gave  Uncle 
Joe  a  note,  with  instructions  to  deliver  it  and  Isaac  into 
the  hands  of  Mr.  James  Mansfield,  jr.  He  arrived  there 
about  eight  o'clock  that  night,  a  distance  of  three  miles, 
when  I  for  the  first  time  saw  my  new  master.  His  wife  was 
named  Mary.  They  had  two  children — a  girl  and  a  boy ; 
the  former  was  about  five  years  of  age  and  the  latter  three 
years.  He  was  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade  and  worked  with 
his  father  who  followed  the  same  business.  He  very  soon 
bought  his  father  out,  taking  the  business  into  his  own 
hands,  and  began  to  thrive  very  rapidly. 


CHAPTER  IT. 

IN    A    NEW    HOME. 

Chestertown  was  quite  a  thriving  place,  having  five 
thousand  or  more  inhabitants,  and  was  the  county  seat  for 
Kent  County.  It  bordered  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  where 
we  had  ready  transportation  to  Baltimore,  Md.,  three  or 
four  times  a  week.  There  were  a  large  number  of  wealthy 
families  living  there  at  that  time  who  owned  large  planta- 
tions. On  being  introduced  to  my  master  the  next  morning 
I  was  informed  what  I  was  expected  to  do.  I  was  told  that 
I  was  coming  sixteen  years  old  the  next  spring,  and  he  had 
bought  me  for  the  special  purpose  to  work  about  the  house 
and  to  do  whatever  was  wanted  of  me ;  and,  also,  I  was 
expected  to  do  what  I  was  set  about,  and  to  do  it  well  and 
quick.  He  said  he  would  not  overlook  one  fault.  If  I  did 
as  he  said  I  would  be  properly  treated  ;  if  I  did  not  I  would 
get  the  hickory  wottel.  I  assured  him  faithfully  I  would  do 
the  best  I  could.  I  found  that  my  work  was  precisely  the 
same  as  that  I  had  performed  at  Dr.  Hyde's,  my  last  place, 
so  I  got  along  for  the  first  two  weeks  very  nicely.  I  gave 
them  satisfaction,  as  I  thought ;  they,  that  is  my  master  and 
his  wife,  appeared  pleased.  I  concluded  I  was  all  right  and 
was  going  to  have  a  nice  time  at  my  new  home.  At  this 
time  there  was  not  the  dread  of  a  daily  whipping  and  the 
loss  of  one  meal  a  day.  It  was  not  long  before  I  was  to 
learn  that  storms  followed  calms,  and  war  came  after  peace. 
19 


20  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   HAS  ON 

One  Friday  morning,  after  being  there  about  four  weeks, 
I  well  remember  the  day,  I  was  busy  at  work  on  my  hand- 
irons.  My  mistress  came  out  and  wanted  to  know  what  I 
had  been  doing  all  the  morning.  I  turned  round  and  looked 
at  her,  and  saw  that  her  face  was  awfully  red ;  there  was 
something  wrong  but  I  could  not  divine  it.  She  hurriedly 
went  out  of  the  room  where  I  was,  into  the  back  room,  and 
got  her  cowhide;  without  the  least  ceremony  she  lit  on  me — 
the  same  as  a  hungry  hawk  on  an  innocent  chicken.  Her 
descent  upon  me  was  so  sudden  that  I  did  not  know  what  to 
do.  I  begged,  I  entreated  her  to  stop  ;  but  she  grew  worse 
and  worse.  The  blows  came  faster  aud  faster,  and  every 
one  brought  the  blood  streaming  from  my  head  and  back  till 
I  was  covered  from  head  to  foot.  Being  a  large,  fleshy 
woman,  she  at  last  became  fatigued  and  exhausted,  and  had 
to  quit  her  inhuman  chastisement.  I  was  so  unmercifully 
beaten  that  I  was  unfit  for  work  that  day/ 

Next  morning  I  could  not  stand  up  I  was  so  weak  and 
exhausted  from  loss  of  blood.  My  eyes  and  head  were 
completely  swollen,  and  for  a  few  days  I  had  to  remain  a 
poor  sufferer — the  victim  of  a  woman's  spite  and  hatred  for 
a  poor  despised  race.  /  w  hat  I  had  done  to  deserve  all  this 
treatment  I  knew  not.  Here  I  was,  no  one  to  care  for  me, 
no  one  to  console  me.  After  awhile  I  got  so  that  I  could 
resume  work.  She  never  repeated  that  kind  of  treatment 
again,  but  consigned  me  to  a  worse  fate  for  the  future — 
I  may  say  for  a  limited  period.  /Whenever  I  did  anything 
that  was  considered  wrong  after  that  I  had  to  go  to  the 
cellar,  where  I  was  stripped  naked,  my  hands  tied  to  a 
beam  over  head,  and  my  feet  to  a  post,  and  then  I  was 
whipped  by   master  till  the   blood   ran  down  to  my  heels.\ 


AS    A    SLAVE.  21 

This  he  continued  to  do  every  week,  for  my  mistress  would 
always  find  something  to  complain  of,  and  he  had  to  be  the 
servant  of  her  will  and  passion  for  human  blood.  At  last 
he  became  disgusted  with  himself  and  ceased  the  cruel 
treatment.  I  heard  him  tell  her  one  day — after  he  had  got 
through  inflicting  the  corporal  punishment-— that  he  would 
not  do  it  any  more  to  gratify  her. 

One  day,  to  my  great  astonishment,  I  found  that  my  work 
was  to  be  changed  from  a  domestic  servant  to  a  farm  hand. 
Having  been  trained  to  do  a  little  of  both  it  did  not  seem 
hard  for  me  to  work  at  either.  Mr.  Mansfield  had  purchased 
a  little  farm  a  few  years  before  I  went  to  live  with  him, 
containing  sixty  acres.  It  cost  him  three  dollars  an  acre, 
and  was  very  poor  land.  I,  together  with  an  older  hand, 
was  placed  on  this  farm  to  work.  It  was  about  a  mile  out 
of  Chestertown  and  had  no  house  or  barn  on  it,  so  we  had 
to  travel  the  distance  four  times  a  day  to  get  meals  and  to 
feed  the  horses.  Having  to  carry  manure  to  the  farm  we 
had  the  privilege  of  riding  there  and  back  every  time.  I 
continued  to  work  on  this  farm  a  little  over  five  years. 
When  we  commenced  reaping  the  first  year  it  yielded  only 
from  five  to  six  bushels  of  corn  and  wheat  to  the  acre  ;  after 
five  years  it  yielded  thirty  bushels  >  to  the  acre.  The  last 
three  years  I  worked  on  the  farm  it  was  under  my  charge. 

Besides  attending  to  the  work  of  the  farm  I  had  to  drive 
the  hearse  which  conveyed  the  dead  to  the  grave,  for  my 
master  being  a  cabinet-maker,  was  also  an  undertaker.  I 
had  to  attend  the  funerals  of  all  the  prominent  men  and 
women  within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  of  that  place.  My 
boss  had  so  much  confidence  in  me  that  he  would  send  me 
twenty  miles  alone  with  a  coffin  to  bury  some  great  person, 


22  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

and  I  would  be  gone,  sometimes,  as  long  as  two  days.  He 
was  the  only  man  in  that  town  that  attended  to  such  business. 
On  one  occasion  I  went  to  bury  the  wife  of  a  high  sheriff, 
and  to  my  surprise  and  confusion  found  that  all  the  men  were 
drunk.  When  they  arrived  at  the  burying  ground  they 
were  just  fit  for  business — not  to  bury,  but  to  quarrel.  As 
they  were  removing  the  corpse  from  the  hearse  they  let  it 
fall  to  the  ground,  bursting  open  the  coffin.  They  were  in 
great  confusion  over  it  and  I  did  not  know  how  it  would 
end.  I  drove  off  and  left  them,  as  my  duties  were  ended. 
It  was  always  customary  on  these  funeral  occasions,  that 
after  the  burial  a  dinner  was  served  to  all  who  took  part  in 
the  exercises — "rejoicing  at  the  death."  By  this  accident  I 
lost  my  funeral  dinner,  as  I  fled  for  home  not  knowing  what 
they  might  do  to  me  if  I  remained — though  the  accident 
was  no  fault  of  mine ;  I  was  a  slave,  subject  to  anybody's 
insult  and  bad  treatment. 

^During  the  five  years  and  over  that  I  worked  on  the 
farm  I  was  never  struck  a  blow.\  There  was  no  one  to  find 
fault  with  my  work.  The  boss  was  but  seldom  there  and  I 
was  taken  from  under  the  control  of  my  mistress.  In  the 
year  1845  I  had  done  so  well  for  my  master,  or  at  least  he 
thought  so — and  I  knew  I  had — that  just  before  Christmas 
he  told  me  to  take  the  other  man  that  was  with  me  and  shell 
out  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  and  the  same  of  wheat, 
and  put  them  on  board  the  sloop  General  Washington,  to  be 
taken  to  Baltimore.  On  the  following  Tuesday,  after  this 
was  done,  he  gave  me  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  and  at  ten 
o'clock  we  went  on  board  the  sloop  and  sailed  for  Baltimore 
to  dispose  of  the  corn  and  wheat.  We  arrived  there  the 
next  morning,  which  was  Wednesday.     Mr.  Mansfield  went 


AS    A    SLAVE.  23 

ashore  and  proceeded  up  town  to  see  some  friend  of  his,  and 
left  me  at  the  vessel.  Not  receiving  any  orders  from  him  1 
thought  I  would  like  to  see  something  of  the  city ;  so  off  I 
started  alone.  /While  passing  up  Pratt  Street  1  fell  in  with 
two  men  standing  on  the  sidewalk.  They  were  not  standing 
close  together.  I  could  not  very  well  pass  around  them, 
and  to  proceed  I  had  to  go  between  them,  which  I  attempted 
to  do.  They  soon  stopped  and  severely  beat  me  for  so 
doing.  When  they  got  through  my  clothes  were  all  full  of 
blood  that  flowed  from  my  own  body.  I  was  ignorant,  yes, 
completely  ignorant  of  their  law,  forbidding  a  negro  from 
passing  between  two  or  more  white  men  or  women  who  were 
walking  or  standing  on  the  sidewalk,  and  that  he  or  she 
must  take  the  street  to  give  place  to  their  superiors. /By 
the  time  they  got  through  inflicting  their  punishment  I 
had  learned  something  of  the  penalty  of  the  crime.  With 
my  painful  bruises  and  blood-stained  garments  I  found  my 
way  back  to  the  sloop  to  await  the  return  of  Mr.  Mansfield. 
When  he  saw  my  unfortunate  condition  and  had  heard  my 
pitiful  story,  he  became  quite  indignant  over  it.  He  tried  to 
obtain  redress  by  offering  a  reward  to  discover  the  parties 
that  had  done  the  deed.  To  his  astonishment,  he  was 
politely  informed  that  his  reward  would  do  no  good,  as 
negroes  are  not  allowed  to  pass  between  white  men  when 
they  are  standing  talking.  This  is  one  of  the  methods  they 
took  to  teach  negroes  their  manners  to  white  people.  This 
was  my  first  experience  of  a  city  walk. 

Our  freight  was  unloaded  and  disposed  of,  and  on  the 
following  Friday  we  returned  home.  As  usual,  I  resumed 
my  customary  work.  Everything  went  along  quite  smoothly 
at  the  farm,  at  the  hearse  business,  and  at  the  house,  until 


24  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

the  month  of  August,  1846,  when  the  golden  dreams  of  my 
sunshine  of  peace  began  to  draw  near  the  horizon  of  that 
place  I  was  doomed  to  call  home ;  but  I  saw  it  not.  Dark 
clouds  were  swiftly  gathering  over  my  head  in  uninterrupted 
succession  for  many  days  to  come;  but  I  discerned  them  not. 
The  life  of  a  slave  is  a  wretched  one  in  its  best  condition  ;  if 
he  always  knew  what  awaited  him  in  the  future,  it  would  be 
most  wretched.  He  who  holds  the  destiny  of  the  world  in 
His  hands  wisely  hides  from  our  eyes  what  a  day  may  bring- 
forth. 

At  this  time  the  family  became  short  of  meat.  We 
had  two  steers  that  had  been  turned  loose  in  what  was 
called  the  "common" — a  tract  of  land  about  twelve  miles 
off,  containing  two  hundred  acres  of  forest  land — a  pleasure 
and  pasture  ground  for  unused  cattle.  Another  hand,  with 
myself,  was  told  to  go  to  the  common  and  capture  one  of  the 
steers,  and  to  bring  it  home  to  be  slaughtered  and  packed 
away  for  the  use  of  the  family.  According  to  orders  we 
started  on  our  journey,  which  was  the  last  day  of  August. 
We  labored  hard  all  that  day  trying  to  find  them,  among  a 
number  of  others,  in  the  dense  forest.  As  night  began  to 
set  in  we  discovered  our  search,  by  the  private  mark  that 
had  been  placed  on  them  when  they  were  put  there.  To  our 
disappointment,  the  fast  overspreading  darkness  prevented 
our  capturing  them  that  night,  so  we  had  to  take  the  horses 
and  return  home,  with  the  intention  of  renewing  our  labors 
early  next  day.  At  an  early  hour  next  morning  we  started 
on  our  journey.  On  our  arrival  we  soon  found  our  search, 
the  lasso  was  thrown  with  steady,  true  aim,  and  the  prize  was 
captured.  We  mounted  our  horses  and  were  soon  on  our 
way  home — one  leading  and  the  other  driving.     Our  captive 


AS    A  SLAVE.  25 

did  some  considerable  struggling  for  liberty,  detaining  us  on 
the  road  so  long  that  we  did  not  reach  home  before  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  we  were  told  to  take  him  to 
Tom  Carroll's  slaughter  house.  At  five  o'clock  he  was 
slaughtered  and  hanging  on  the  gallows,  and  by  seven 
o'clock  that  night  he  was  in  the  cellar,  salted  down  and 
packed  away  for  future  use.  In  less  than  three  days  our 
supply  of  beef  was  completely  spoiled,  having  maggots  in  it 
nearly  as  long  as  a  little  finger.  A  new  life  had  come 
into  it. 

At  this  time  my  mistress  had  become  the  mother  of 
another  child ;  it  was  about  two  weeks  old.  She  had  stop- 
ping with  her  a  young  girl,  a  niece  of  hers,  who  performed 
the  duty  of  housekeeper.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Hugh 
Wallace.  When  this  miss  of  a  housekeeper  discovered  the 
great  calamity  that  had  befallen  the  store  of  beef — making  it 
unfit  for  the  delicate  stomachs  of  her  aunt,  uncle-in-law, 
cousins,  and  ber  own — she  ordered  that  some  of  it  be  taken 
to  the  kitchen  and  boiled  for  the  hands.  After  it  had  gone 
through  the  culinary  department,  its  flavor  and  unpalatable 
taste  made  it  too  much  for  human  stomachs  of  the  strongest 
kind  to  endure.  A  slave's  stomach  was  considered  not  to  be 
human,  but  this  undainty  dish  proved  that  it  was.  None  of 
us  could  eat  it.  It  had  to  be  rejected  because  the  stomach 
refused  it.  I  was  so  bold  as  to  cast  my  portion  out  to  the  dog, 
an  act,  I  thought,  unseen  by  any  but  those  who  were  with 
me.  /I  was  mistaken  ;  other  eyes  were  on  me  but  I  knew  it  \ 
not  then.  This  awful  crime  that  I  committed  had  at  last  sent 
my  peace  below  the  horizon,  and  the  cloud  had  burst.  The 
keen  eye  of  the  girlish  housekeeper  had  seen  it  fall  to  the 
dog's    mouth,      Master,    mistress    and    chief    servant    all 


26  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   3IAS0N 

agreed  that  I  had  been  impudent  to  Miss  Wallace,  and  of 
course  I  must  pay  the  penalty.  In  Baltimore  I  was  chas- 
tized for  passing  between  two  white  men ;  now  I  am  treated 
worse  than  that  for  casting  rotten  meat  to  a  dog,  because 
I  could  not  force  it  down  my  throat  when  given  me  by 
my  mistress'  representative. 

This  remarkable  event  happened  on  a  Saturday,  at 
noon.  Mr.  Mansfield  had  that  day  gone  away  from  home 
and  was  not  to  return  before  night.  "When  he  had  been 
home  but  a  short  time  he  came  out  and  met  me  in  the  yard, 
after  I  had  put  the  horse  up  that  he  had  been  using,  and 
wanted  to  know  what  I  had  done.  Before  I  could  think  of 
any  serious  fault  he  picked  up  a  stick  four  feet  long  and 
began  to  fire  away  at  me  with  all  his  force,  crying  out, 
"What  have  you  been  doing?"  I  told  him  I  had  done 
nothing,  and  he  exclaimed,  u  You  are  a  liar!  "  He  told  me 
to  go  to  the  cellar  and  he  would  see.  Though  a  slave,  and 
his  property,  yet  I  dared  to  assert  the  lion  of  my  manhood  that 
he  had  aroused  in  me,  and  I  replied,  "  I  will  not  doit!" 
then  he  renewed  the  attack  with  the  stick.  I  caught  hold  of 
it  to  prevent  him  from  using  it.  He  wrung  and  I  twisted ; 
he  twisted  and"!  wrung.  At  last  I  lost  control  of  my  temper 
and  pushed  him  over  a  pile  of  wood  that  was  in  the  yard. 
As  he  fell  he  cried  out  for  Mary,  his  wife,  to  bring  him  his 
gun.  Before  she  arrived  with  the  deadly  instrument  I  was 
over  one  fence  and  across  the  street.  As  I  ascended  the 
second  fence  to  find  refuge  in  the  field  he  aimed  his  gun, 
firing  three  shots  at  me.  The  first  shot  grazed  my  head, 
removing  a  little  hair ;  the  second  touched  my  ear,  and  the 
third  passed  through  my  hat;  but  they  did  not  stop  me 
from  running.     On  reaching  the  mulberry  thicket,  where  I 


AS   A    SLAVE.  27 

thought  I  was  safe,  I  stopped.  I  was  ignorant  of  what  I  had 
so  seriously  done  to  cause  all  this.  I  remained  here  all  that 
nighty 

At  last  Sunday  morning  dawned  and  found  me  hiding 
from  the  fierce  anger  of  a  man  who  would  soon  be  making 
his  way  to  church;  but  I  could  not  go.  Iliad  no  one  to 
speak  to  but  God.  Alone,  yet  not  alone.  My  thoughts 
may  be  somewhat  surmised  when  I  inform  my  readers  of  the 
sacred  relationship  of  the  man  who  had  just  attempted  to 
take  my  life.  He  was  a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  considered  one  of  its  most  pious  and  consistent 
members.  His  religious  fervor  was  so  great  that  he  could 
not  coutent  himself  with  his  own  church,  but  also  identified 
his  name  with  the  colored  Methodist  Church  of  which  I  was 
a  membsr.  He  would  frecpiently  attend  our  meetings,  jump, 
shout  and  sing,  like  the  rest  of  us.  He  was  the  leader  of 
my  class,  my  spiritual  adviser  and  counsellor  in  the  time  of 
trouble.  ISTow,  by  his  merciless  treatment,  I  am  driven  from 
the  shelter  of  his  home.  What  could  I  think  of  him?  How 
could  I  judge  of  his  religious  profession?  How  could  I 
receive  his  religious  instructions?  The  more  I  thought  of 
him  this  day  the  more  my  confidence  in  him  grew  weaker. 
He  was  my  master,  and  by  the  inhuman  law  of  slavery  1 
was  his  property  and  must  obey  his  mandates.  During  the 
day  my  hiding-place  was  discovered  by  a  fellow-slave  who 
brought  me  food,  which  removed  a  portion  of  sorrow  from 
my  wounded  breast.  In  this  affliction  I  found,  as  in  former 
instances,  that  by  turning  my  heart  towards  God,  He  would 
take  care  of  me  and  provide  for  my  wants.  The  Sabbath 
day  drearily  passed  away,  and  night  found  me  still  among 
the  mulberry  bushes  to  spend  a  second  night  without 
shelter,  bed  or  covering. 


28  LIFE    OF   18 A  AC   MASON 

On  Monday  morning  my  pious  master  told  one  of  the 
slave  hands  if  he  saw  me  to  tell  me  to  "come  home!  " 
When  I  received  the  message  I  immediately  returned.  On 
my  arrival  I  met  the  would-be  murderer,  and  he  wanted  to 
know  "  why  I  acted  so;  why  I  threw  the  meat  to  the  dog  V 
In  an  instant  the  cause  of  Saturday's  conflict  and  Sunday's 
sorrow  came  to  my  mind.  Refusing  to  eat  rotten  beef  and 
casting  it  to  the  dog  had  brought  down  his  vengeance  on  my 
much-defenceless  head.  The  secret  was  revealed.  Miss 
Wallace  had  witnessed  the  act,  taking  it  as  a  great  insult 
to  herself.  To  use  his  own  expression:  "It  was  an  insult 
to  Miss  Wallace,  for  she  had  sent  it  out  to  the  kitchen."  I 
replied  that  I  did  not  know  it  was  an  insult,  I  did  not  mean 
to  insult  her,  and  she  did  not  know  how  bad  it  smelled.  He 
abruptly  told  me  to  go  to  work  and  he  would  see  about  it. 
So  we  parted ;  he  to  counsel  other  methods  of  punishment  or 
revenge,  and  I  to  my  work  on  the  farm.  At  this  season  we 
were  busily  engaged  hauling  lime  to  the  farm.  We  com- 
pleted this  job  in  three  weeks,  then  we  had  to  gather  in  the 
corn  and  tread  out  some  wheat.  The  treading  was  done  by 
horses  in  what  was  called  the  "treading  yard."  It  was 
about  the  middle  of  November  when  this  portion  of  our 
annual  work  was  completed. 

The  first  important  job  that  was  assigned  to  Will  (for 
my  master  always  called  me  by  that  name),  after  finishing 
the  farm  work,  was  to  take  the  horse  and  cart,  with  a  note, 
and  go  to  Mr.  H.  Wallace's  for  a  barrel  of  turkeys  and 
geese  that  were  to  be  sent  to  Baltimore,  Md.  During  all  this 
time  I  had  not  heard  anything  about  the  spoiled  meat 
trouble.  I  concluded  it  had  all  passed  by,  and  to  me  almost 
forgotten.      My  conception  of  the  trickery  of  mankind  were 


AS   A    SLAVE.  29 

very  small  at  that  time.  If  I  had  known  the  contents  of  the 
note,  and  what  kind  of  poultry  I  was  sent  after,  I  would  no 
doubt  have  been  tempted  to  have  resorted  to  my  mulberry 
home,  or  some  other  more  distant,  but  I  did  not.  T  had 
more  lessons  to  learn.  At  two  o'clock  I  started  on  my 
errand.  The  distance  by  the  public  road  was  ten  miles, 
and  it  would  be  some  time  before  I  could  return.  I  was 
acquainted  with  a  road  that  would  take  me  directly  there, 
by  crossing  lands  belonging  to  other  persons,  and  the 
distance  would  not  be  more  than  three  miles  ;  so  in  order  to 
economize  time  for  the  boss  I  took  that  route.  This  way  I 
knew  would  bring  me  in  contact  with  a  creek  a  little  below 
Mr.  W's  house.  He  always  kept  a  boat  on  this  creek,  so 
that  persons  coming  to  or  going  from  his  house  by  that  way 
could  be  ferried  across  by  one  of  the  slaves.  The  horse  and 
cart  were  secured  ;  I  gave  the  signal  and  was  soon  safely 
landed  on  the  other  side.  I  inquired  for  the  master  of  the 
mansion,  aad  was  directed  to  the  treading  yard.  I  soon 
found  him,  and  delivered  to  him  in  person  my  trust  and  the 
message  for  the  featherless  and  lifeless  birds  that  were  never 
to  be  seen.  He  gave  me  a  pitchfork,  telling  me  to  shake  up 
that  straw,  he  would  give  me  what  I  wanted  pretty  soon. 
I  always  endeavored  to  obey  orders,  so  I  complied  by  going 
to  work  with  a  good  will  pitching  straw.  I  worked  on, 
expecting  every  moment  to  receive  the  answer  to  my  errand, 
but  still  it  did  not  come.  As  it  began  to  grow  dark  I  became 
apprehensive  that  something  was  wrong.  Finally,  I  told 
Mr.  Wallace  that  I  must  be  going  home  as  I  had  work  to 
do;  would  he  please  give  me  the  turkeys  and  geese?  He, 
to  my  great  astonishment,  struck  me  with  his  pitchfork  with 
so  much  force  that  he  broke  it  over  my  shoulders. 


30  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

At  this  sudden  change  of  affairs  I  suddenly  started  on 
the  run,  with  he  and  his  son  after  me  like  hounds  in  full 
chase  after  the  fleeing  fox.  My  safety  depended  upon  my 
agile  movements.  My  active  feet  did  me  good  service  and 
soon  left  my  pursuers  far  behind.  My  impulsive  thought 
was  to  flee  directly  home  and  secure  the  protection  of  him 
whom  I  was  compelled  to  call  master.  Alas!  alas!  I  was 
placing  my  trust  in  one  who  was  betraying  me,  who  was 
deceiving  me ;  and  soon  I  was  to  discover  the  blackness  of 
his  heart  toward  me.  The  vigorous  efforts  of  the  maddened 
foe  pressed  on  me  so  great  that  the  road  for  home  had  to  be 
abandoned,  and  I  had  to  flee  to  the  dense  woods  for  refuge. 
They  were  safely  reached,  and  I  could  once  more  breathe 
easily.  Here  I  remained  till  after  midnight,  when  I  thought 
I  could  venture  out  and  try  to  find  my  way  home.  The 
great  wonder  was,  how  could  I  succeed.  I  knew  Mr.  W. 
always  kept  his  boats  in  such  a  manner  that  I  could  get  one 
and  row  across  the  creek ;  but  then  came  the  dread  that  they 
might  be  watching  that  means  of  escape  and  would  capture 
me.  That  route  had  to  be  abandoned  and  another  found . 
Blinded  with  grief  and  darkness  I  started  up  the  creek  in 
search  of  some  shallow  place  where  I  might  walk  across. 
On  I  walked  till  at  last  I  halted  at  a  spot  that  I  thought 
would  do.  The  stream  here  was  narrow;  in  I  ventured. 
Step  after  step  brought  me  into  deeper  water.  Suddenly  I 
found  that  I  was  beyond  my  depth.  I  could  not  swim,  I 
could  not  go  back.  The  scenes  of  death  were  before  me. 
There  was  no  one  near  by  to  call  upon  to  save  me.  In  the 
midst  of  my  dilemma  I  remembered  the  Lord ;  upon  Him 
with  my  whole  heart  I  did  call.  If  ever  I  prayed  in  my  life 
I   did   this   time.     Soon   my   eyes   became    dim,    my    mind 


AS    A    SLAVE.  31 

bewildered,  and  consciousness  had  departed  from  me.  How 
long  [  remained  in  the  water  after  that  I  know  not.  When 
consciousness  returned  I  found  myself  safely  resting  on  the 
opposite  shore,  wet  and  cold.  My  escape  was  miraculous, 
and  I  attributed  it  all  to  God. 

Once  more  on  terra  firma  I  started  for  home,  arriving 
there  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  found  that  the 
horse  and  cart  had  arrived  home  during  the  night,  having 
been  brought  there  by  one  of  Mr.  Wallace's  men.  Next 
morning  my  boss  met  me  when  I  was  coming  from  the  barn. 
He  informed  me  that  "Mr.  W.  was  going  to  whip  me  for 
being  impudent  to  his  daughter  in  throwing  that  meat  to 
the  dog,  and  I  had  better  have  stayed  and  got  it  and  had  it 
over."  I  told  him  that  I  belonged  to  him,  and  if  he  wanted 
to  do  it  I  would  submit — I  did  not  want  anybody  else  to  do 
it.  He  bade  me  take  off  the  wet  clothes  and  put  on  the 
hearse  clothes.  I  did  so,  and  was  quickly  on  my  way  with 
the  hearse  to  the  shop. 

Though  I  was  but  a  poor,  despised  slave,  having  no 
rights  that  I  could  call  my  own,  even  to  the  refusal  of  such 
food  that  I  could  not  eat,  yet  I  possessed  that  principle  of 
true  manhood  to  despise  deceit  in  my  employers.  Here  I 
found  a  man  who  had  told  me  from  time  to  time  how  to 
serve  God,  how  to  live  right,  and  now  had  proved  to  be  a 
base  deceiver  and  a  falsifier.  Instead  of  the  note  asking  for 
turkeys  and  geese,  it  was  to  whip  me  for  what  they  deemed 
impudence.  /  Could  I  believe  him  hereafter?  Could  I  trust 
him  any  more1?  No!  lie  had  told  me  a  lie  my  confidence 
in  him  was  gone,  and  my  feelings  towards  him  were 
changed.  Was  I  happy  or  contented?  No!  for  I  did  not 
know  how  soon  another  trap  would  be  set   for  me  to    fall 


- 


32  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

into  the  hands  of  my  enemies.  This  uncertain  state  of  mind 
was  my  daily,  bnt  yet  unpleasant,  companion.  Its  duration 
was  uncertain.  I  would  have  felt  somewhat  at  ease  if  the 
boss  had  inflicted  this  punishment,  but  he  would  not  do  it. 

On  December  15  Mr.  Mansfield  sent  me  down  to  the 
wharf  to  Jim  Frisby,  to  get  his  scow,  and  proceed  up  to 
Mr.  Wallace's  and  get  ten  cords  of  hickory  wood.  I  was 
told  to  take  another  man  with  me.  As  I  had  to  enter 
within  the  bounds  of  Wallace's  estate  again,  I  concluded  to 
prepare  myself  for  emergencies  and  a  hasty  retreat.  I  had 
come  to  know  the  trickery  of  the  man  I  was  dealing  with 
and  was  determined  to  disappoint  him.  Jim  Frisby  was 
an  old  colored  man  who  owned  the  scow,  and  he  owned, 
besides,  a  small  boat — just  what  was  needed,  and  served  my 
purpose  admirably.  While  arranging  for  the  scow  I  also 
bargained  for  the  boat,  taking  care  not  to  divulge  my  secret 
to  any  one.  About  ten  o'clock  we  started  on  our  journey. 
The  distance  was  but  five  miles,  the  tide  was  running  in  our 
favor,  and  we  were  soon  at  our  journey's  end.  We  found 
the  wood  piled  up  on  the  shore  ready  for  us.  We  began  to 
load  up  the  scow,  but  night  came  on  us  so  fast  that  we  could 
not  finish.  We  took  our  lunch  into  the  small  boat  and 
rowed  to  the  other  side  of  the  creek,  and  sought  out  an  old 
barn  that  I  had  frequently  seen  in  that  neighborhood,  where 
we  rested  for  the  night.  Being  tired  after  our  day's  work 
we  soon  sought  sweet  sleep  for  our  weary  bodies. 

Next  morning  wTe  were  both  up  by  daylight  and  resumed 
our  work,  and  by  nine  o'clock  we  were  ready  to  return  with 
our  load  of  wood.  My  readers  must  not  suppose  that  my 
eyes  were  idle  while  working  here.  My  hands  were  working 
to  serve  Mansfield,  and  my  eyes  were  working  or  watching 


AS    A  SLAVE.  33 

to  serve  Will,  alias  Isaac.  I  knew  my  man,  and  I  felt  he  was 
on  the  watch  and  only  waiting  for  a  chance  to  pounce 
down  upon  me.  As  we  were  preparing  to  start  I  looked  up 
the  road  and  saw  Mr.  W.  coming  towards  the  scow.  I 
remarked  to  my  fellow-workman  that  he  waf  coming  and 
there  would  be  trouble  for  me.  On  he  came  with  his  silver- 
headed  stick  in  hand.  He  drew  near  and  jumped  on  board, 
the  scow,  and  I  very  deliberately  stepped  into  Jim  Frisby's 
little  boat  and  struck  out  for  the  opposite  shore.  He  was  so 
sorely  disappointed  at  his  second  defeat,  that  he  took  a  keen 
aim  at  my  head  with  his  stick  ;  but  oh !  he  missed  me  and  off 
I  went.  He  tried  another  plan  by  sending  two  of  his  men 
in  another  boat  after  me,  with  instructions  to  bring  me  back 
dead  or  alive.  I  out-rowed  them  and  jumped  ashore  with 
paddle  in  hand.  I  was  making  for  a  place  of  safety,  but 
before  I  could  secure  myself  they  had  overtaken  me.  Then 
a  desperate  struggle  took  place.  They  rushed  for  me.  I 
dodged,  threatening  them  to  stand  back  or  I  would  kill  them. 
Still  they  ti  ied  to  carry  out  the  demand  of  the  tyrant.  In 
my  struggles  I  looked  on  them  as  men  in  slavish  bondage 
like  myself,  and  executors  of  a  master's  will./  They  fought 
to  obey  him,  I  fought  to  save  my  body  from  bruises, 
and  for  aught  I  know,  my  life  from  sacrifice.  Finding 
words  of  persuasion  and  threat  of  no  avail,  I  brought  my 
weapon  down  with  full  strength  and  true  aim  on  the  head  of 
one  of  the  attacking  party,  when  he  fell  to  the  ground  like  a 
log.  1  he  other  fellow  ran  off  and  left  me  to  make  good  my 
flight  from  the  avenger — not  of  blood,  but  of  pretended 
impudence  to  his  presumptuous  daughter/ 

To   return    to    the  boat  was   impossible.       To    render- 
assistance  in   carrying    home    the    scow    was    out    of    the 


34  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

question.  The  way  to  Chestertown  by  land  was  the  most 
convenient.  As  I  drew  near  the  house  who  did  I  see  ride 
into  the  yard  from  a  different  direction  but  my  mortal 
enemy,  Mr.  H.  Wallace.  He  failed  to  see  me,  so  I  at  once 
made  a  hasty  retreat.  To  have  gone  nearer  the  house  would 
have  been  as  bad,  if  not  worse,  than  staying  on  board  the 
scow  and  having  the  unmerciful  thrashing  that  was  laid  out 
for  me.  Moved  by  the  impulse  of  the  moment  I  turned 
around,  made  my  way  into  the  meadows  and  secured  a 
position  where  I  could  see  when  he  left  the  premises. 
These  remarkable  escapes  from  his  hands  were,  to  me, 
great  miracles.  / 1  had  formed  a  resolution  that  he  should 
not  beat  me,  and  was  determined  to  disappoint  him  at 
every  attempt.  He  was  aided  by  my  cunning  master,  but  I 
had  no  one  to  help  me./  Thus  far  success  attended  the 
resolve,  and  I  make  bold  to  assert  that  God  helped  me  in 
emergencies.  Mr.  Wallace  lingered  around  the  house  for 
some  time,  thinking  I  would  come  home.  A  watchful  eye 
was  kept  on  the  path  he  must  take  on  leaving  the  house. 
The  moment  for  his  departure  came  at  last,  and  my  heavy 
heart  was  lightened  when  I  saw  his  retreating  footsteps 
making  their  way  homeward.  I  forsook  my  hiding-place 
and  went  home.  To  my  great  astonishment  I  learned  that 
the  scow  with  her  load  of  wood  was  at  the  wharf,  Mr.  W. 
had  sent  one  of  his  hands  to  assist  in  bringing  it  home. 
Shortly  after  I  entered  the  yard  I  met  Mr.  Mansfield.  His 
look  and  manner  of  speech  indicated  that  something  was 
wrong.  He  ordered  me  to  go  to  the  wharf  immediately  and 
"pitch  the  wood  off  the  scow,''  he  was  afraid  it  would  sink, 
"and  get  it  home  pretty  quiek!"  Off  I  went,  as  usual, 
wondering  what  could  be  up  now.  /My  utmost  endeavor 
was  always  to  try  and  please  him, 


AS    A    SLAVE.  35 

In  the  evening  his  son  came  to  me,   looking  sad,  and 
appeared  anxious  to  say  something.     I  was  then  working  in 
the  barn,  and  it  was  a  convenient  place  for  a  kind  of  private 
interview,   for  no  one  at  the  house  could  see  us.      He  in- 
formed me  that  his  Uncle  Wallace  had  that  day  urged  his 
father  to  sell  me  to  him,  promising  to  give  his  boy,  George, 
who   was   twenty-two  years  old,  and  $300  into  the  bargain. 
His  father,  after  a  little   persuasion,   had  agreed  to  do  so, 
though  he  did  not  want  to  part  with  me  till  after  the  second 
day  of  January  next.      At  that  time  the  papers  were  to  be 
made   out   and  signed.      I  gained  further  information  from 
him   concerning  my  future  destiny — arranged  by  those  un- 
generous   slave-holders.      His    uncle,    H.    Wallace,    had   a 
nephew  living  in  New  Orleans,   a   slave  owner;    he  had  a 
supply  about  once  a  year,  and  the  time  having  arrived  for  a 
batch  to  be  sent  on  I  found  I  was  to  form  one  of  the  number, 
January   being  the   month   allotted   for  the  transportation. 
By  their  unjust  treatment  they  had  forced  me  to  form  plans 
to  make  my  escape  from  slavery.     To  New  Orleans  I  did  not 
intend  to  go  if  I  could  prevent  it.     These  tidings  caused  me 
to  devise  means  to  put  into  execution  an  immediate  flight. 
Whatever  I  was  to  do  must  be   done   at   once.     Christmas 
was  drawing  near,  and  New  Year's  was  soon  to  follow;  if 
alive,  then  my  fate  would  be  determined,  and  Wallace  and 
Will  had  to  decide  that.     Mr.  Mansfield  had  put  me  out  of 
his  reach  by  making  the  bargain  to  sell/ 


36  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 


CHAPTER  III. 

ESCAPE    FEOM  SLAVERY. 

On  the  following  Saturday  night,  after  hearing  this  news, 
I  hired  a  horse  from  an  old  colored  man,  Jim  Willmer, 
for  a  bushel  of  oats.  These  were  waste  oats  that  I  had 
saved  from  time  to  time  from  the  horse's  feed.  That  night 
I  rode  to  George  Town  Cross  Oats,  the  place  of  my  nativity. 
I  went  in  search  of  a  colored  man  by  the  name  of  Joe 
Brown,  arriving  at  his  house  about  eleven  o'clock  that  night. 
He  had  not  gone  to  bed  but  was  smoking  his  pipe;  his  wife 
had  retired  for  the  night,  so  everything  was  favorable  as  the 
business  was  highly  important  and  only  required  two  to 
discuss  it  at  this  time.  I  had  known  him  ever  since  I  was  a 
boy,  and  he  appeared  kindly  disposed  toward  me,  so  there 
was  no  feeling  of  scrupulousness  in  teding  him  what  I 
intended  and  wanted.  I  related  all  my  troubles  to  him,  and 
finally  told  him  that  I  wanted  to  get  away  and  that  he  must 
assist  me.  He  listened  attentively  to  my  statement  and 
wishes,  then  he  asked  how  many  there  were  of  us.  I  told 
him  I  thought  I  could  bring  two  more  with  me.  He 
arranged  that  I  was  to  come  to  his  house  a  week  from  that 
night,  and  if  there  were  three  to  bring  along  with  us  nine 
dollars,  and  if  we  stood  by  him  he  would  stand  by  us, 
landing  us  safely  in  Philadelphia.  The  coming  Thursday 
from  this  night  Avould  be  Christmas  day,  consequently  the 
day   of   meeting  would  be  in   Christmas   week   during  the 


AS   A    SLAVE.  37 

holidays,  when  slaves  are  generally  allowed  to  visit  their 
friends  for  one  or  two  days.  Our  business  being  over  I  left 
Joe  Brown  to  enjoy  his  pipe  a  little  longer  and  then  retire  to 
take  his  rest,  while  I  joined  the  company  of  Jim  Willmer's 
horse.  There  was  not  much  time  to  linger  on  the  road  to 
meditate  on  the  future.  My  faithful  horse,  moved  by  in- 
stinctiveness,  made  light  of  his  burden  and  soon  covered 
the  distance  between  the  two  places.  About  two  o'clock 
Sunday  morning  the  horse  was  in  the  barn  and  I  on  my 
master's  premises.  Nobody  knew  that  I  had  been  from 
home,  much  less  out  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Mansfield  had  secured  from  his  father's  estate  a 
young  fellow  by  the  name  of  Joshua.  He  had  been  with 
him  about  two  years  this  Christmas.  We  were  very  inti- 
mate and  I  had  placed  the  utmost  confidence  in  him. 
Feeling  he  would  not  betray  my  secret,  I  ventured  to  inform 
him  where  I  had  been  and  what  I  had  done.  He  felt  much 
elated  over  the  project  and  said  he  would  go  with  me.  We 
had  a  little  money  saved  up  that  was  earned  by  sawing 
wood  and  doing  odd  jobs  at  night  for  some  of  the  neighbors, 
but  that  was  not  sufficient,  therefore  we  had  to  enter  into 
ways  and  means  to  secure  the  balance.  We  solicited  work 
and  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  it,  and  by  Saturday  night 
our  treasury  showed  the  sum  of  $12.  At  last  Christmas 
day  had  come — the  bright  and  hopeful  day  of  all  Christendom 
when  master  and  mistress  with  their  friends  were  to  make 
merry,  and  the  poor  slave  to  hope  that  he  might  be  happy 
for  a  few  hours  at  least.  Mrs.  Mary  Mansfield  attempted  to 
make  her  slaves  feel  cheerful  by  giving  them  a  Christmas 
breakfast,  consisting  of  one  quart  of  molasses,  being  one  and 
one-third  of  a  gill  for  each  servant  as  there  were  six  of  us, 


38  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

about  six  pounds  of  sausage  meat,  which  was  the  scrapings 
of  the  meat-block,  and,  after  we  had  extracted  the  wood  of 
the  suffering  block  from  it,  we  had,  approximately,  three 
pounds  of  meat,  allowing  each  one-half  of  a  pound.  Along 
with  this  her  bountiful  heart  permitted  her  to  give  a  pan  of 
middlings.  This  constituted  our  Christmas  breakfast. 
While  we  were  eating  this  festive  meal  Mr.  Mansfield  made 
his  appearance  and  gave  us  each  fifty  cents,  and  at  the  same 
time  told  me  I  could  go  and  see  my  father  and  mother  on 
Saturday  morning,  but  be  sure  and  get  back  by  Monday 
night  without  fail.  If  I  had  known  that  by  casting  decayed 
meat  to  the  dog  would  have  cost  me  so  much  trouble  I 
would  not  have  attempted  it ;  and  if  he  had  known  of  my 
plans  for  making  my  escape  he  would  not  have  given  me 
money  nor  permission  to  visit  the  very  place  at  the  very 
time  I  wanted  to  go. 

The  young  man  George  that  I  made  mention  of  as 
coining  to  take  my  place,  came  to  Chestertown  on  Friday, 
as  he  thought,  to  spend  Christmas.  I  informed  him  that  he 
was  sold  to  Mansfield  to  take  my  place,  and  that  the  plot 
was  to  send  me  to  New  Orleans ;  that  Joshua  and  myself 
had  made  arrangements  to  run  away,  and  if  he  wanted  lo 
go  with  us  he  could  do  so.  It  did  not  take  him  long  to 
decide  to  make  one  of  the  number.  There  was  one  difficulty 
in  the  way  with  him — he  had  no  money.  In  order  to  obviate 
that  difficulty  Joshua  and  myself  agreed  to  furnish  it.  I 
told  George  to  return  home  and  meet  us  at  a  certain  place 
about  nine  o'clock  with  a  boat  to  take  us  across  the  creek. 
Instead  of  my  going  away  in  the  morning  as  permitted  I 
remained  until  Saturday  night,  in  order  that  we  might  be 
together,  as  Joshua  was  not  acquainted  with  the  route. 


AS    A   SLAVE.  39 

When  night  came  we  bade  farewell  to  the  Mansfield 
house  with  its  cares  and  lashes,  and  started  for  the  land 
of  liberty  and  a  city  where  we  could  breathe  the  refreshing 
air  of  freedom.  When  we  reached  our  place  of  meeting, 
according  to  previous  arrangement,  about  nine  o'clock 
George  was  there  with  the  boat  waiting  for  us.  The  creek 
was  soon  crossed  and  our  course  was  shaped  for  George 
Town  Cross  Oats,  a  distance  of  about  twenty  miles.  We 
reached  the  town  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
most  interesting  place  to  be  found  by  us  was  the  house  of 
our  guide,  Joe  Brown.  To  the  horror  of  all  we  found  Joe 
lying  on  the  flcor  dead  drunk.  Joshua  and  George  did  not 
know  Brown's  failings;  they  became  alarmed  at  the  situa- 
tion and  talked  strongly  about  going  back  home.  This 
increased  my  anxiety  considerably,  for  if  they  went  back 
my  plans  would  be  destroyed  and  I  returned  into  the  hands 
of  my  enemies,  or  else  hunted  down  and  killed.  I  at 
last  prevailed  on  them  to  go  with  me  to  my  mother's  and 
stay  a  few  hours.  This  was  Sunday  morning,  the  distance 
was  but  half  a  mile,  and  we  were  soon  sheltered  and  out  of 
sight  of  Joe  Brown.  We  stayed  there  all  day  concealed 
away  up  in  the  attic.  This  was  a  day  of  great  suspense. 
No  one  could  advise  what  would  be  the  next  best  step  to 
take.  We  were  three  helpless  beings  fleeing  from  the  cruel 
chains  of  bondage. 

To  my  happy  surprise  that  afternoon  Joe  Brown  put 
in  his  appearance.  He  did  not  remain  long  nor  have  much 
to  say,  but  told  us  to  meet  him  that  night  at  Price's  Woods 
at  seven  o'clock.  As  a  signal  of  our  meeting  in  safety  he 
would  give  the  sign  by  crying  out,  "  yea!  yo!''  and  we  were 
to   answer    "Friend  to   the  guard!"      The  place  was  well 


40  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

known  to  me  and  could  be  easily  found.  At  seven  o'clock, 
as  near  as  we  could  judge,  we  were  on  the  spot.  The  sign 
and  countersign  were  exchanged,  and  we  met.  Brown  was 
master  of  ceremonies.  The  first  business  to  be  done  was  the 
invocation  and  pledge.  We  all  four  knelt  down  and  prayed 
and  then  took  an  oath  that  we  would  fight  for  each  other  till 
we  died.  This  done,  the  next  was  to  pay  over  the  liber- 
ation money,  nine  dollars.  Next  came  the  hasty-eaten  but 
substantial  meal  of  bread  and  meat  that  was  provided  for  us 
by  our  guide.  We  remained  there  half  an  hour.  The  ground 
was  well  covered  with  snow,  making  good  sleighing. 

The  night  of  inarch  had  come,  aud  with  our  anxious 
faces  directed  northward  we  started  for  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  it  being  about  thirty-five  miles  away.  When 
we  had  arrived  within  eight  miles  of  Wilmington,  Brown 
took  us  to  the  house  of  an  old  colored  man  who  was  an 
acquaintance  of  his.  I  did  not  understand  why  he  went 
there,  but  I  judged  it  was  to  seek  for  information ;  and  we 
did  receive  some  very  important  news.  The  old  man  told 
him  not  to  go  any  further  on  that  road  as  there  was  a  gang 
of  body-snatchers  waiting  by  the  bridge  to  mob  every 
colored  person  that  came  that  way.  He  directed  him  to 
return  about  eight  miles  and  take  the  first  left  hand  road  he 
came  to,  and  that  would  bring  him  into  Wilmington  another 
way  where  he  would  not  meet  with  any  trouble.  The  old 
man's  advice  was  heeded.  We  accordingly  went  back,  and 
by  the  time  we  got  there  the  grey  dawn  of  morning  began  to 
appear.  Day  was  breaking,  and  travelers  like  the  three  of 
this  band  had  to  seek  a  hiding-place  while  the  glorious  rays 
of  the  king  of  light  prevailed,  and  men  were  abroad  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth. 


AS  A  SLAVE.  41 

Fortune,  thus  far,  had  bountifully  smiled  on  our  path, 
aud  nature  had  lent  us  her  aid,  bidding  us  good- speed  on 
our  journey.  As  daylight  lifted  the  sable  curtain  of  night 
we  saw  but  a  short  distance  from  us  a  dense  wood,  and  we 
made  for  it  in  haste.  On  entering  this  forest  we  found  a 
very  large  white  oak  tree  that  could  not  endure  the  mighty 
winds  of  the  early  fall,  and  it  had  been  ruthlessly  torn  up 
by  the  roots  before  its  leaves  had  fallen.  There  it  lay,  form- 
ing a  complete  arbor  and  place  of  safety.  When  the  full 
light  of  day  came,  under  it  we  crept,  not  knowing  how  long 
we  were  to  remain,  nor  what  might  be  the  result.  Joe 
Brown  left  us  with  strict  orders  to  remain  where  we  were 
until  his  return,  that  he  was  going  to  Wilmington.  We  had 
voluntarily  placed  ourselves  under  his  care  and  direction 
for  the  safety  of  our  escape,  consequently  it  was  no  more 
than  just  that  we  should  submit  to  his  judgment  and  obey 
orders  for  the  time  being.  We  stayed  all  day — or  as  long 
as  daylight  lasted.  This  was  the  greatest  and  most  mem- 
orable day  in  this  undertaking  for  liberty.  Fugitives  from 
slavery. 

While  lying  on  the  cold  ground  under  this  tree,  our 
"city  of  refuge,"  we  were  greatly  surprised  at  seeing  a 
number  of  fox  hounds,  numbering,  I  suppose,  from  twenty 
to  fifty,  running  about  the  forest  near  to  us.  They  were 
accompanied  by  about  fifty  men  on  horseback,  who  were  all 
white.  The  reader  may  judge  the  terrible  anxiety  we  had  to 
endure.  We  wTere  slaves  fleeing  from  bondage,  they  were 
freemen,  and  to  have  fallen  into  their  hands  would  have 
been  so  much  added  to  their  gain,  and  to  us,  perhaps,  a 
more  sorrowful  condition  than  the  one  we  were  fleeing  from. 
They  rode  and  hunted  after  a  fox  throughout  the  whole  day. 


42  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

Several  times  the  fleeing  fox  made  his  unwelcome  appear- 
ance under  the  tree  that  secreted  us  from  the  horsemen's 
view,  and  to  my  great  astonishment  I  discovered  we  were 
lying  over  the  hole  that  led  to  reynard's  den.  He  made  two 
or  three  attempts  to  get  into  the  hole  but  we  succeeded  in 
beating  him  off,  and  the  result  was  he  did  not  return  any 
more  that  day.  Our  anxiety  became  more  and  more  intense 
as  we  recognized  among  the  band  of  hunters  some  well- 
known  faces,  who,  it  cannot  be  claimed,  were  "  a  terror  to  all 
evil  doers,"  but  to '  all  honest,  trustworthy  slaves.  Had 
Mister  Fox  succeeded  in  entering  the  hole  we  would  have 
been  caught,  and  our  jig  would  have  been  up  sure.  It  was 
in  this  large,  dense  forest,  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  that  I 
was  led  to  see  my  own  fate  compared  with  that  of  the  wild 
beast  of  the  forest.  True,  there  was  some  difference;  the 
fox  was  free,  and  I  was  seeking  for  freedom ;  it's  pursuers 
were  near  by,  but  mine  were,  for  all  I  knew,  afar  off.  Our 
much-dreaded  visitors  remained  in  the  neighborhood  all  day. 
It  was  almost  dark  before  they  relieved  us  of  their  presence. 
This  was  a  day  of  "foes  without  and  fears  within,"  for 
while  I  wondered  how  this  day's  events  would  end  from 
outward  appearances,  my  two  companions  became  so  badly 
frightened  that  my  words  failed  to  comfort  them.  Their 
fears  were  so  great  that  they  determined  to  go  back — not  to 
the  "flesh  pots  of  Egypt,"  but  to  the  stinted  fare  and  cowhide 
of  slavery.  I  determined  differently.  I  longed  for  the 
home  of  the  free.  Finally,  to  quiet  their  fears,  I  promised 
if  they  would  only  keep  silent  I  would  take  them  back 
home. 

After   it  got  dark,  I  waited   until   th3  north  star   had 
risen,  for  I  determined,  as  Joe  Brown  had  not  returned,  that 


AS    A    SLAVE.  43 

the  journey  should  be  continued.  One  day  in  a  place  like 
those  woods,  with  two  tired,  discontented  companions,  was 
long  enough  to  remain  there.  As  my  star  of  hope,  the 
guide  of  the  night,  came  fully  in  view,  we  started  on  our 
tramp,  as  the  boys  thought  for  our  former  home ;  but  not  so 
with  me.  ^1  had  gained  some  early  knowledge  of  the  north  v 
star  for  the  express  purpose  for  which  I  was  now  about  to 
use  it.  An  old  man  by  the  name  of  Charley  Miller  had  / 
told  me  where  that  star  was,  and  if  "  I  could  follow  it  it 
would  guide  me  north,  that  the  Lord  had  placed  it  there  to 
lead  people  out  of  slavery.^'  I  used  it  that  night,  believing 
what  he  told  me  was  true.  I  followed  it  for  about  five  miles, 
when,  to  my  great  astonishment,  I  met  Joe  Brown,  our 
leader.  He  had  with  him  another  man  who  proved,  after- 
wards, to  be  our  guide  for  the  remainder  of  the  journey. 
Joe  had  with  him  something  to  appease  our  hunger  and  to 
cheer  us  on,  in  the  substance  of  a  boiled  hog's  head  and  a 
loaf  of  corn  bread.  He  fed  us,  and  we  were  truly  glad  to 
receive  it,  for  we  had  been  without  food  the  whole  day. 
The  fear  of  being  captured  and  returned  to  our  masters,  or 
else  sold  to  new  ones,  had,  no  donbt,  kept  uuder  the  desire 
to  eat.  But  now  the  evil  threatenings  of  the  day  were  over, 
and  in  the  presence  of  help  we  could  do  justice  to  the 
nourishment  our  pilot  had  brought  us.  We  stopped  and 
talked  for  awhile,  and  Brown  placed  us  under  the  care  of 
this  new  comer,  and  he  continued  his  journey  homeward. 

Having  taken  leave  of  our  former  friend  and  guide  we 
continued  to  the  goal  of  our  ambition  under  the  care  of  our 
new  leader.  There  are  a  great  many  venturesome  things  a 
man  will  do,  when  determined  to  escape  from  danger  or  an 
evil,  that  he  would  not  do   when   otherwise   situated.     To 


44  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

think  that  we  had  placed  our  fate  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who 
was,  to  us,  an  utter  stranger.  The  confidence  that  had  been 
reposed  in  the  integrity  of  Brown  concerning  our  welfare 
was,  simply,  a  transferable  one.  His  deep  interestedness  in 
rescuing  his  race  from  the  cruel  chaius  of  slavery,  had 
established  the  faith  that  he  would  not  permit  us  to  be 
betrayed  into  the  hands  of  a  friend  or  advocate  of  the 
cruel  institution.  The  experience  of  the  past  had  taught  us 
the  lesson  to  trust  and  go  forward,  and  forward  we  went. 
About  midnight  of  that  same  day  we  passed  by  Wilmington 
unmolested  by  any  one,  and,  as  near  as  I  can  judge,  it 
was  three  o'clock  that  morning  when  the  dividing  line  that 
runs  between  the  States  of  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania  were 
crossed.  No  words  can  depict  the  joy  and  gratitude  that 
filled  the  bosom  of  one  who  had,  as  it  were — not  rather  as  it 
actually  was — stepped  from  bondage  into  liberty,  from  dark- 
ness into  light. 

I  had  no  means  of  keeping  the  days  of  the  month,  but 
was  fortunate  enough  to  remember  the  day  of  the  week.  So 
it  was  on  a  Tuesday  morning  that  our  eyes  rested  on  a  State 
where  liberty  for  the  negro  slave  could  be  enjoyed.  Perry 
Augustus,  our  guide,  with  much  seeming  satisfaction  and 
delight,  informed  us  that  we  had  crossed  out  of  slavery  into 
freedom.  We  had  had  our  faithful  guides,  and  they  had 
discharged  their  obligations  to  us  to  the  letter ;  but  I  had 
not  forgotten  my  early  impressions  of  the  existence  of  an 
ever  kind  Providence,  for  which  gratitude  should  be  shown, 
consequently  I  suggested  that  we  should  have  a  season  of 
prayer  and  return  thanks  to  God  for  this  safe  deliverance. 
The  old  man  readily  consented  to  the  proposal,  and  we  all 
knelt   down   on   the   snow-covered   ground   and   offered    up 


AS    A    8 LAVE.  45 

humble  thanksgiving,  and  petitions  for  future  protection 
and  guidance,  to  the  Great  Supreme  Ruler  of  heaven  and 
earth.  Those  who  have  been  under  some  heavy  burden, 
weighing  them  down  by  continued  torture  and  misery,  when 
to  their  relief  has  come  some  happy  event,  or  some  sympa- 
thising friend  who  has  removed  the  torturing  evil,  may  form 
some  idea  of  the  felicity  enjoyed  by  us  on  that  memorable 
morning. 

When  the  other  two  boys  learned  that  we  had  been  suc- 
cessful in  crossing  into  the  land  of  freedom,  they  became 
reconciled,  and  expressed  themselves  as  being  sorry  for  the 
unnecessary  trouble  they  had  caused  me,  especially  while 
concealed  in  the  forest.  We  journeyed  on  for  a  distance  of 
about  ten  miles  when  we  came  to  a  place  called  New  Garden. 
At  this  place  we  were  made  acquainted  with  an  old  man  by 
the  name  of  Nelson  Wiggins.  This  we  found  also  to  be  the 
resting  place  of  Perry  Augustus.  Further  developments 
showed  that  it  was  more  than  a  resting  place,  it  was  a  tem- 
poral home,  a  little  heaven  on  earth  for  a  fugitive.  The  old 
man  had  two  daughters,  who  had  charge  of  the  house,  as  his 
wife  was  dead  ;  one  of  these  tender-hearted  and  benevolent 
ladies,  with  her  father,  bid  us  welcome  and  make  ourselves  at 
home.  The  invitation  was  readily  accepted  and  we  were  com- 
fortably housed  and  seated.  Her  agile  step  and  busy  hands 
were  soon  employed  in  preparing  a  breakfast  for  the  weary 
travelers.  When  it  had  been  prepared  we  were  bid  to  partake 
of  it.  Breakfast  over  we  were  directed  to  go  up  stairs  where 
we  would  find  beds  upon  which  to  rest  ourselves.  The  direc- 
tions were  soon  followed,  and  we  laid  us  down  to  rest  and 
sleep,  to  dream  of  the  past  and  plan  for  the  future.  We 
remained  there  all  day. 


46  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

The  next  night  a  great  number  of  persons  called  to  see  us 
and  congratulate  us  on  our  successful  venture.  Some  of 
them  we  had  known  in  by-gone  days.  This  was  delight 
added  to  pleasure.  Companions  in  slavery  once,  now 
companions  in  freedom.  Two  days  were  spent  in  this  state 
of  ease  and  comfort,  and  on  the  third  day  it  was  deemed  best 
that  we  should  start  out  in  search  of  employment.  It  being 
winter  time,  work,  as  a  general  thing,  was  very  scarce ; 
there  did  not  seem  to  be  anything  to  do  in  New  Garden,  so 
we  concluded  to  make  our  way  to  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
In  the  Land   of  Freedom. 

On  Saturday  morning,  we  bid  our  kind  host  and  benev- 
olent daughters  good-by  and  started  on  our  journey.  On 
account  of  not  being  acquainted  with  the  road,  we  did  not 
reach  our  destination  until  about  seven  o'clock  that  night. 
Going  down  (what  we  afterwards  learned  to  be  Market 
Street,)  we  found  the  markets  open  and  crowded  with  people. 
I  cannot  say  we  were  surprised,  but  I  must  confess  that  we 
were  wonderfully  frightened  at  seeing  so  many  people  at  one 
place  at  the  same  time.  The  like  was  never  seen  by  either  of 
us  before. 

We  continued  down  Market  Street  until  we  came  to 
the  ferry  boat.  Not  daring  to  look  to  the  right  or  left,  we 
walked  on  board  supposing  all  the  while  we  were  walking 
on  the  street.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  guard  chain  at  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  we  would  have  walked  overboard,  when  the 
waters  below  would  have  informed  us  of  the  blunder.  Soon 
the  whistle  sounded,  the  engine  was  put  in  motion,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  we  found  ourselves  in  a  little  town  called 
Camden.  Here  we  wandered  about  for  a  short  time,  but  at 
last  concluded  to  seek  the  woods  for  shelter.  We  remained 
in  seclusion  all  day  Sunday,  not  daring  to  go  to  any  body's 
house  for  fear  of  being  kidnapped  or  imprisoned.  When 
night  came,  we  started  back  by  the  same  way  we  came,  for 
we  had  neither  money  or  friends.  We  knocked  around  there 
until  the  following  Sunday;  sometimes  visiting  somebody's 
house,  and  sometimes  secreting  ourselves  in  the  woods. 
47 


■IS  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

One  day  we  were  successful  in  obtaining  a  job  in  cutting 
wood  for  a  farmer  who  very  liberally  paid  us  for  oar  services 
by  giving  us  a  supper  and  a  night's  lodging  in  his  barn. 
"Whether  from  the  fear  of  us  robbing  his  house,  or  for  the 
welfare  of  our  safe  keeping  I  know  not,  but  this  I  do  know 
and  well  remember,  that  after  we  had  gone  into  the  barn,  he 
locked  the  door  and,  I  suppose,  put  the  key  in  his  pocket. 
By  this  ingenious  precaution  of  safety,  we  had  to  remain 
whether  we  wanted  to  or  not. 

On  the  following  Sunday  during  our  travels,  probably  it 
would  seem  better  to  say  wanderings,  we  met  an  old  colored 
gentleman  who  very  kindly  took  us  to  his  home,  a  distance 
of  about  half  a  mile.  Our  feet  at  this  time  had  become  very 
much  swollen  and  painful ;  and  we  were  exceedingly  tired. 
He  proved  to  be  "a  friend  in  need  as  well  as  a  friend  in- 
deed.11 He  fed  us  sumptuously,  and  took  special  care  of  us. 
It  was  our  happy  lot  to  remain  under  his  kind  hospitality 
until  the  following  Sunday  morning.  As  was  his  custom,  he 
went  to  church  and  should  bave  us  accompany  him  to  the 
place  of  worship.  After  the  service  was  ended,  he  an- 
nounced in  the  church  that  he  had  with  him  three  travelers, 
and  wanted  some  of  the  brethren  to  care  for  them.  A 
woman  by  the  name  of  Mary  Jackson  arose  and  said  that 
her  employers  wanted  a  man,  and  if  one  of  them  could  go 
home  with  her,  she  thought  she  could  get  him  a  place.  The 
opportunity  was  too  good  to  be  lost,  and  there  was  no  time 
to  be  spent  in  thought.  There  was  three  of  us,  and  one 
place  presented,  and  it  may  well  be  imagined  I  hastened  to 
speak  up  quickly,  and  said  I  would  go.  When  she  got 
ready  we  started,  leaving  my  old  companions  in  sorrow. 
We  had  to  go  a  distance  of  five  miles.     The  week's  rest  and 


AS   A    SLAVE.  49 

good  fare,  with  the  expectation  of  obtaining  work  afforded 
strength  and  cheer  for  the  journey.  This  place  proved  to  be 
Doe  Bun,  in  Chester  County,  and  the  man's  name  was  James 
Pile,  a  farmer.  When  I  saw  him  he  told  me  he  could  give 
me  work  with  a  compensation  of  four  dollars  a  month, 
board,  lodging  and  washing.  I  accepted  his  terms,  and 
made  a  bargain  to  work  for  him  until  the  first  of  the  coming 
April.  One  of  the  boys  (my  former  associate)  procured  a 
situation  similar  to  mine,  and  the  other  went  to  live  with  a 
colored  family  to  cut  wood  for  the  winter.  Just  two  weeks 
from  the  time  we  started  from  the  land  of  slavery  for  that  of 
freedom,  we  were  settled  down,  independently  workiug  for 
our  own  bread,  and  choosing  our  own  employers. 

I  remained  in  the  employ  of  James  Pile  for  nearly  three 
months,  and  then  renewed  the  agreement  for  an  indefinite 
time,  for  eight  dollars  a  month.  I  must  mention  something 
here  with  regard  to  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Pile's.  It  was  a  sight 
unseen  by  me  in  my  southern  home ;  and  that  was  the 
daughter  of  a  farmer  or  planter  standing  by  the  side  of  her 
father's  workmen  with  a  hay-fork  in  her  hand,  not  idly 
standing  by  to  see"  the  work  done  properly,  or  that  the  men 
did  not  idle  away  their  time,  but  to  share  in  the  labor  of 
spreading  and  stacking  the  hay.  When  the  time  came  to 
take  it  to  the  barn,  she  could  do  her  part  in  pitching  it  on 
the  cart.     I  continued  to  work  on  this  farm  until  September. 

When  I  left  Mr.  Pile's  I  went  to  a  place  called  Chatham, 
where  I  hired  myself  to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Sam  Hooper, 
as  a  farmer;  but  my  particular  work  was  to  thrash  wheat. 
He  agreed  to  pay  me  thirteen  dollars  a  month  with  board  and 
lodging.  I  did  not  remain  in  his  employ  very  long.  T 
worked  around  in  different  places  until  the  month,  of  April  of 


50  LIFE    OF    ISAAC   MASON 

the  following  year,  sometimes  thrashing  wheat,  sometimes 
quarrying  stone  and  at  other  times  cutting  wood.  On  the 
1st  day  of  April,  1848,  I  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Mr. 
David  Chambers  to  work  for  him  for  eight  months  for  ten 
dollars  a  month  as  a  farmer.  He  made  me  his  principal 
farm  hand,  and  I  continued  in  his  service  until  the  winter  of 
1849.  On  leaving  this  farm  I  went  to  live  with  a  Mr.  Joshua 
Pusey,  another  farmer,  who  agreed  to  give  me  fifty  cents  a 
day,  a  house  to  live  in  and  two  acres  of  planting  land  for  my 
own  use,  six  months  firewood,  with  the  use  of  a  horse  and 
team,  and  a  horse  to  plough  the  ground.  Perhaps  some  of 
my  readers  may  wonder  why  these  additions  were  made  to 
my  former  contracts  ;  why  this  house,  this  garden  and  fire- 
wood? I  did  not  wonder  at  it,  neither  will  you,  dear  reader, 
when  I  tell  you  I  was  making  preparations  to  be  married, 
and  wanted  a  comfortable  home  for  my  bride  and  self.  I  an- 
ticipated great  things.  Once  a  slave,  but  now  free  and  soon 
to  be  a  married  man.  Yes,  I  was  building  airy  castles  in  my 
imagination. 

As  the  time  advanced  and  I  was  to  enter  upon  my  new 
contract,  my  hopes  grew  brighter  and  my  joys  expanded. 
When  my  expectations  were  at  their  height,  three  slave- 
holders drove  up  from  Maryland  in  a  team  and  went  to  a 
neighboring  house  that  was  occupied  by  a  colored  man 
named  Tom  Mitchell,  knocked  the  door  in,  took  the  man  out 
aud  drove  off  with  him,  leaving  his  wife  and  children  scream- 
ing for  the  loss  of  a  fond,  industrious  husband  and  a  loving 
father.  This  Tom  Mitchell  was  like  myself,  a  runaway  slave 
and  came  from  the  same  county  as  I  did.  That  kind  of 
work  thoroughly  frightened  me,  and  I  resolved  that  I  would 
break  the  Pusey  bargain  and  leave  that  region  immediately. 


A3    A    SLAVE.  51 

Mitchell's  captors  were  drovers,  and  knew  him  as  a  slave 
and  of  his  whereabouts,  and  they  made  good  use  of  their 
knowledge ;  they  got  fifty  dollars  for  him.  The  Quakers, 
moved  with  sympathy  for  the  wife  and  children,  and  know- 
ing the  worth  of  the  captive,  raised  five  hundred  dollars  and 
went  south,  purchased  his  freedom  and  brought  him  back. 

I  had  agreed  to  be  married  March  the  first  and  go 
housekeeping  April  the  first,  but  Mitchell's  mishap  up- 
set my  plans,  at  least  for  the  time  being. 

I  left  and  went  to  Philadelphia  where  I  thought  safety 
would  be  best  secured.  I  worked  there  as  a  hod  carrier  up 
to  September  12,  then  I  went  back  to  Chester  county  to 
fnlfil  my  promise,  not  as  to  time,  but  to  the  person  with 
whom  I  had  agreed  to  marry.  This  was  in  1849.  After  we 
were  married,  I  took  my  wife  to  Philadelphia  and  went 
housekeeping. 

I  had  not  been  long  settled  at  housekeeping  before  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  came  into  full  force.  One  day  while 
climbing  the  ladder  with  a  hod  of  bricks  on  my  shoulder,  I 
looked  down  at  the  passers  by,  which  was  not  an  uncommon 
thing  to  do,  and  who  should  I  see  but  the  son  of  the  man 
Wallace,  who  I  had  occasion  to  mention  in  my  darkest 
days  of  slavery  life.  I  continued  my  course  upwards  until  I 
came  to  the  staging.  Discontent  and  fear  would  not  permit 
me  to  remain  there  any  time ;  to  descend  by  the  same 
way  I  ascended  might  prove  dangerous,  as  young  Wal- 
lace might  still  be  somewhere  near  by,  so  I  concluded  to 
go  down  the  back  way.  The  first  impression  that  c.xme  to 
me  was  to  seek  for  counsel,  so  I  at  once  notified  some  of  the 
leading  colored  men,  in  whom  I  had  confidence,  of  what  I 
had  seen  and  of  my  great  dilemma.     They  immediately  ud- 


52  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

dertook  to  find  out  where  he  was  stopping,  and  what  his 
business  was  in  this  city,  through  lawyer  Paul  Brown, 
His  business  was  soon  found  out  and  made  known.  He  was 
searching  for  his  runaway  slaves,  of  whom  I  was  one.  As 
leader  of  the  band,  I  was  advised  to  make  my  way  into 
Massachusetts,  and  that  without  much  delay.  "O  the 
terror  and  curse  of  Slavery!"  I  concluded  to  sell  out  the 
little  comforts  that  I  had  collected  to  make  home  pleasant, 
and  leave  for  regions  farther  North,  where  the  foot  of  the 
slave  owner  doth  not  tread.  So  I  thought  then,  but  came  to 
know  differently  very  soon  afterwards.  "We  sold  what  we 
could,  and  what  we  could  not  dispose  of  had  to  be  given 
away. 

Home  was  broken  up,  and  travel  or  tramp  was  the 
order  of  the  hour.  I  had  a  letter  of  recommendation 
given  to  me,  which  I  was  to  present  to  a  Mr.  Gibbs,  of 
New  York  City,  on  my  arrival  there,  enroute  for  Boston, 
Mass.  He  was  a  worker  in  the  Under  Ground  Bailroad 
scheme,  and  was  a  colored  man.  We  left  Philadelphia  by 
boat,  and  had  a  pleasant  sail  to  New  York.  "When  we 
arrived,  we  did  not  meet  Mr.  Gibbs  as  we  anticipated.  He 
was  late  in  getting  to  the  boat.  A  hack  driver  came  to  me 
and  said  he  worked  for  Mr.  Gibbs.  Being  an  entire  stranger 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  to  the  customs  of  the  people, 
I  was  easily  deluded.  Depending  on  the  truthfulness  of  the 
hackman,  I  handed  my  wife  into  the  hack,  put  in  my  choice 
bundles,  and  then  got  in  myself,  leaving  the  driver  to  get  the 
trunk  and  drive  off.  But  while  he  was  getting  the  trunk, 
Mr.  Gibbs  came  and  told  us  we  were  in  the  wrong  hack,  and 
to  get  out,  to  which  the  hackman  objected.  After  consider- 
able word  wrangling,  the  driver  and  two  other  men  jumped 


AS   A    SLAVE.  53 

ou  Mr.  Gibbs,  and  beat  him  unmercifully.  During  the  con 
test  I  got  out  of  the  hack,  removing  my  wife  and  bundles. 
The  result  was  that  the  three  hackmen  were  arrested  and 
put  in  the  lockup.  Mr.  Gibbs  was  beaten  so  badly  that  he 
had  to  be  carried  to  his  home.  This  was  one  of  the  unfortu- 
nate scenes  that  caused  regret  to  fill  my  bosom,  as  it  was  on 
my  account  that  a  fellow-man,  one  of  my  own  race,  a  helper 
to  the  poor  tortured  slave  had  been  so  cruelly  handled. 
Another  colored  man  took  Mr.  Gibbs'  hack,  and  drove  us  to 
Bonaventure  Street  where  we  remained  all  night,  to  rest,  to 
think  and  dream  of  the  future,  and  to  question  what  shall 
come  next.  We  remained  in  this  place  until  three  o'clock 
the  next  day. 

Mr.  Gibbs  was  fortunate  enough  as  to  recover  from  the 
effects  of  the  beating,  so  as  to  be  out  the  next  day.  He 
came  around  to  the  place  where  we  were  stopping,  and  took 
us  to  the  Fall  Eiver  boat.  He  gave  me  a  recommendation 
to  a  man  in  Boston  by  the  name  of  Snowdon  who  would 
help  me  as  he  said.  He  informed  me  that  it  would  cost 
four  dollars  each  to  go  to  Boston,  Mass.,  and  to  give  him 
the  money  and  he  would  purchase  the  tickets.  As  a 
stranger  I  gave  him  the  required  sum  supposing  it  was 
all  right,  as  I  was  under  his  direction.  He  bought  the 
tickets  and  gave  them  to  me.  We  shook  hands  and  bade 
each  other  good-by.  The  steam  whistle  blew,  the 
moorings  were  loosed,  the  engine  put  in  motion,  the  wheels 
rotated,  and  we  were  on  our  way  to  Boston.  To  my  sur- 
prise I  found,  after  we  had  reached  the  stream,  that  the 
tickets  were  second-class  and  not  first,  as  Mr.  Gibbs  repre- 
sented. He  only  paid  two  dollars  each  for  them,  and  kept 
half  the  amount  for  himself.     We  had  got  beyond  hailing 


54  LIFE    OF    ISAAC    MASON 

power  now ;  be  was  on  the  land  and  we  on  the  water ;  per- 
haps he  was  out  of  the  sight  of  the  steamboat  for  all  I 
knew.  I  pitied  him  when  he  got  the  beating,  but  on  the 
discovery  of  deception,  and  his  having  taken  unlawfully  a 
part  of  my  own  hard  earned  and  scanty  means,  the  old 
Adam  rose  in  my  bosom,  and  destroyed  the  sympathy  that 
was  there,  turning  pity  into  passion  and  disdain.  ''Some 
men  live  by  the  sweat  of  their  own  brow,  and  some  live  by 
the  sweat  of  others." 

Not  knowing  the  difference  at  first  my  wife  and  self  went 
down  in  the  first  cabin  and  as  we  did  not  have  the  right  kind 
of  tickets,  were  ordered  out.  This  was  bad  for  my  wife  ;  I 
did  not  mind  it  so  much.  We  had  now  been  married  about  a 
month,  and  for  her  to  be  placed  in  that  embarrassing  state 
made  me  feel  the  condition  more  keenly.  I  paid  one  dollar 
more  for  her  so  that  she  could  enjoy  the  comforts  of  a  cabin 
passenger  while  I  betook  my  weary  self  to  the  smoke-stack 
and  there  roasted  my  sides  against  the  boiler  in  order  to  keep 
warm.  So  much  for  Mr.  Gibbs1  generosity.  Onward  glided 
our  steamboat  through  the  epiiet  sea,  bearing  us  rapidly  to  a 
more  northern  home.  Onward  sped  my  wandering  thoughts 
of  a  near  future  ;  what  kind  of  a  reception  was  awaiting  me, 
and  what  would  the  prospects  of  employment  and  an  income 
for  labor  be?  The  arrival  of  the  boat  at  Fall  River,  the 
bustling  crowd,  the  disembarking  passengers  aroused  me 
from  mental  roamings.  I  had  to  join  the  busy  throng  and 
make  my  way  to  the  cars,  which  was  done  and  we  were  soon 
comfortably  seated.  The  whistle  blew  and  the  train  rolled 
out  of  the  depot.  My  wife  and  I  occupied  seats  together, 
thinking  that  all  was  right,  but  another  trouble  awaited  me, 
another  separation.    Oh!  those  tickets.   Oh!  that  man  Gibbs. 


AS    A    SLAVE.  55 

Our  tickets  were  through  ones,  I  did  not  understand  the 
difference  between  first  and  second-class  fares  on  the 
trains.  I  had  learnt  the  method  of  boat  traveling  and 
was  now  about  to  take  my  first  lesson  on  the  railroad.  The 
conductor  was  passing  through  the  car  collecting  the  tickets, 
everybody  appeared  to  be  all  right  until  he  came  to  me.  I 
handed  my  ticket  supposing  I  was  like  the  rest,  but  soon 
found  out  there  was  a  mistake.  He  told  me  to  get  up  and 
go  into  the  forward  car,  and  wanted  to  know  what  I  was 
"  doing  there."  So  I  had  to  get  up  aud  leave  ;  yes,  to  leave 
my  wife  to  ride  alone.  When  we  arrived  at  Boston  the  first 
business  my  attention  was  directed  to  was  to  find  Mr.  Snow- 
don  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Gibbs. 
After  making  some  inquiry  I  was  sadly  disappointed  to 
learn  that  he  was  dead.  The  gloom  that  began  to  spread  over 
me  was  soon  to  disappear;  the  silvery  lining  was  near  by.  A 
place  of  rest  and  shelter  was  providentially  prepared  for  us 
in  the  hospitable  residence  of  the  late  Lewis  Hayden.  We 
stayed  with  him  two  or  three  weeks,  and  being  unsuccessful  in 
obtaining  work  in  that  city  we  were  sent  to '  Worcester.  In 
using  the  term  we  here  is  in  reference  to  two  young  men,  like 
myself  seeking  liberty  and  employment.  I  left  my  wife  in 
Boston  with  the  Hayden  family.  Mr.  William  C.  Nell  a 
colored  man,  and  an  agent  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  sent 
us  to  Worcester  with  letters  of  introduction  to  Mr.  William 
Brown,  now  living  and  widely  known.  On  arriving  in  this 
city,  we  soon  found  Mr.  Brown  and  stayed  with  him  that 
night.  The  next  day  we  secured  permanent  lodging  with 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Hemenway. 

After  jobbing  around  in  various  ways,  I  obtained  steady 
employment  on  the  farm  of  the  late  Major  Newton  on  Pleas- 


56  LIFE    OF  ISAAC    3IA80N 

ant  Street.  I  worked  on  that  farm  until  April  15,  1851,  in 
company  with  Mr.  C.  B.  Had  win.  Everything  went  on 
smoothly  np  to  this  time,  when  those  tormenting  slave- 
holders, who  had  come  that  winter,  began  to  make  them- 
selves very  conspicuous  in  hunting  for  slave  property.  The 
poor  despised  negro  slave  was  a  valuable  article.  Dollars 
and  cents  with  thousands  of  miles  of  hard  travel  and  priva- 
tions were  no  objects  of  consideration  in  the  long  chase  and 
capture  of  a  runaway  slave.  This  hunting  slave  fever  got  so 
bigh  that  our  sympathizing  friends  advised  me  to  leave  at 
once  and  go  to  Canada.  The  two  men  that  came  with  me 
from  Boston,  met  and  consulted  at  Abram  Howland's  store 
what  had  best  be  done.  To  remain  here,  there  would  be  a 
chance  of  capture,  to  leave,  there  would  be  an  opportunity 
to  escape.  The  latter  we  agreed  on,  making  our  departure 
a  speedy  issue.  However,  before  going  I  hired  rooms  and 
had  my  wife  come  here  to  live  ;  for  I  thought  her  opportun- 
ities to  get  along  would  be  better  than  in  Boston. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  April,  1851,  the  three  of  us  took 
the  train  to  Montreal,  Dominion  of  Canada.  We  left  on 
Saturday  and  arrived  at  our  destination  about  eleven  o'clock 
Sunday.  The  river  being  frozen  over  we  had  to  cross  on  the 
ice  on  runners,  but  I  did  not  know  of  the  change  until  I  got 
to  the  depot.  The  snow  was  packed  up  so  high  in  the 
streets  that  pedestrians  could  not  see  each  other  from  op- 
posite sidewalks.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  Montreal  was 
not  the  place  to  welcome  the  laboring  man  when  a  stranger  ; 
for  there  was  nothing  doing  there,  or  anything  we  could  find 
to  do  that  would  give  us  an  honest  living.  Consequently  we 
did  not  stay  there  but  a  few  days.  We  went  from  there  to  a 
place  called  Kingston,   on  the  Lake,  and  stayed  there  but 


AS   A    SLAVE.  57 

one  day  as  the  prospects  of  work  was  far  worse  than 
in  Montreal. 

Next  we  went  to  Toronto  where  Ave  found  the  climate 
warmer,  and  general  business  a  little  better.  We  concluded 
to  find  a  boarding  place  and  try  our  luck  there.  The  place 
we  sought  was  soon  obtained,  and  agreed  to  pay  three  dol- 
lars a  week  for  board  and  lodging.  Near  the  end  of  the 
second  week  after  being  there,  we  procured  work  with  an 
old  colored  man  who  done  a  trucking  business.  At  this 
time  he  had  taken  a  contract  to  move  a  building,  and  being 
in  want  of  assistance,  he  hired  the  three  of  us  at  rates  of 
fifty  cents  a  day.  Just  enough  to  meet  our  boarding  charges. 
The  distance  the  house  was  to  be  moved  was  about  two 
miles.  Work  was  begun  by  employers  and  employees 
arduously,  and  progressed  as  we  thought  safely.  Well  it 
did  for  nine  days,  but  on  the  tenth  day,  a  sad  disaster  was  in 
store  for  us,  and  another  draw-back  to  poor  Isaac's  pro- 
gress. On  this  day  we  came  to  the  descent  of  a  hill  over 
which  our  road  lay.  The  old  rope  was  not  new  nor  none  of 
the  best,  so  when  the  weight  of  the  building  becoming 
greater  and  greater  by  the  declivity  of  the  road,  the  hempen 
or  flaxen  cords  were  strained  beyond  their  strength.  At  last 
they  snapped,  they  break  asunder ;  and  away  went  the  house 
without  the  aid  of  man  or  beast  down  the  hill.  With  almost 
breathless  astonishment,  we  stood  gazing  at  the  sliding 
object,  when  suddenly  a  collision  is  observed,  a  crushing 
noise  is  heard,  the  house  has  collapsed  and  gone  to  pieces. 

The  man  w.io  owned  the  building  sued  the  contractor 
for  damages,  got  judgment  against  him;  and,  also,  got  all  the 
old  man  owned,  horses  and  trucks.  So  we  unfortunates  got 
nothing  for  our  work  and  were  in  debt  for  board   to   the 


58  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

amount  of  six  dollars,  and  nothing  to  pay  it  with.  It  was  a 
sad  loss  to  us.  Our  clothes  and  all  we  had  were  held  in 
payment  for  indebtedness.  They  were  placed  under  lock 
and  key.  Among-  my  clothing  was  my  wedding  suit  that  cost 
me  fifty  dollars,  also  a  valuable  pair  of  boots.  We  quitted 
boarding  at  that  place  at  once  and  went  to  Queen's  Bush, 
about  seven  miles  from  Toronto.  There  we  made  arrange- 
ments with  a  man  to  cut  fire  wood,  at  fifty  cents  a  cord — 
four  feet  long.  He  kept  a  store  and  promised  to  furnish  us 
with  meat,  bread  and  potatoes ;  our  working  tools  such  as 
axes,  mauls,  wedges,  &c,  &c,  were  to  be  had  from  him. 
After  all  necessary  arrangements  had  been  perfected,  we 
went  into  the  woods,  cut  down  some  logs  and  put  up  a 
log  house,  covering  it  with  bushes,  old  boards  and  slabs 
which  made  it  pretty  tight.  With  our  rude  home  and  home 
comforts  provided,  we  went  into  chopping  fire-wood  in  good 
earnest.  When  we  had  chopped  about  one  hundred  cords, 
we  proposed  to  make  a  settlement,  and  get  our  money  and 
visit  Toronto  to  redeem  our  clothes.  The  employer's 
account  against  us  was  fifteen  dollars,  which  left  a  balance 
due  us  of  about  thirty-five  dollars,  which  would  be  more 
than  enough  to  carry  out  our  honest  plan.  But  instead  of 
receiving  that  amount  we  only  got  fifty  cents  a  piece ;  yes 
that  was  all  we  got.  This  was  on  Saturday  and  we  intended 
to  spend  Sunday  in  Toronto.  Being  thus  disappointed,  we 
concluded  to  spend  the  Sabbath  in  the  lonely  woods,  as  we 
could  not  then  better  our  condition.  He  promised  to  pay 
us  in  full  the  next  following  Saturday .  Monday  morning  we 
resumed  our  work,  looking  forward  to  be  amply  rewarded 
for  the  disappointment  by  the  end  of  the  next  six  days' 
labor.     On  went  the  days  and  up  and  down  wTent  our  toil- 


AS   A    SLAVE.  59 

ing  hands  cutting,  splitting  and  stacking.  At  last  Saturday 
arrives,  and  we  appear  before  our  employer  for  settlement. 
It  is  said,  "The  last  state  of  that  man  was  worse  than  the 
first. "  This  saying  was  fully  verified  in  this  man,  for  his 
last  state  was  worse  than  the  first  one,  and  this  Saturday 
was  worse  than  the  last  one,  for  we  did  not  get  one  cent. 
We  found  out  that  he  did  not  own  the  land  on  which  we 
worked,  but  that  he  himself  was  hired  by  a  man  in  Toronto 
to  cut  and  deliver  this  wood  at  the  steamboat  pier.  This 
Saturday  I  determined  to  go  to  Toronto  myself.  I  left  the 
other  boys  in  the  woods  and  started  for  the  city  of  Toronto. 
I  began  to  make  search  for  the  man  that  had  the  wood  cut  or 
owned  the  land  on  which  we  worked,  and  found  he  was  a 
steamboat  owner.  I  learned  from  him  that  the  man  who  was 
doing  the  work  for  him  had  been  all  paid  up,  and  there  was 
not  anything  due  him.  Even  the  horses  and  carts  that  were 
used  in  drawing  the  wood  were  all  owned  by  the  same  man 
— that  is  the  owner  of  the  steamboat.  He  told  me  if  my 
companions  and  myself  would  go  back  to  work  chopping 
wood,  he  himself  would  see  us  paid,  but  we  would  have  to 
be  the  loosers  of  what  he  had  already  paid  the  agent.  While 
we  were  studying  to  be  honest  in  paying  our  board  bill ;  an- 
other was  studying  to  dishonestly  rob  us  of  strength  and 
labor. 

While  in  Toronto  this  time,  I  sought  out  a  friend  with 
whom  I  had  become  acquainted  with  when  there  before,  and 
got  him  to  write  a  letter  for  me  to  Mr.  Joshua  Spooner,  who 
was  then  living  on  the  Major  Newton  farm  in  Worcester, 
Mass.,  and  asking  him  to  send  me  six  dollars  as  I  wanted  to 
come  home  to  Worcester.  Within  five  days  from  the  time  I 
sent  the  letter  his  reply  came  containing  the  amount  I  sent  for. 


60  LIFE    OF    ISAAC    MASON 

I  did  not  go  back  to  the  woods  again.  Disgust  and  dis- 
couragement prevented  me  from  laboring  for  a  man  who 
cheated  me  out  of  my  just  due.  I  left  the  other  boys  there, 
how  long  they  remained  "?  do  not  know.  During  these  five 
days  of  interval  between  the  sending  and  receiving  the 
Worcester  letter,  I  did  a  job  for  the  man  who  had  my 
clothes  in  bond  or  locked  up,  which  amounted  to  three  dol- 
lars. I  left  in  his  hands  two,  on  account,  and  kept  one  for 
myself. 

I  went  to  the  steamboat  pier  every  day  at  four  o'clock, 
and  became  familiar  with  the  faces  of  the  different  boats  that 
plied  between  Toronto  and  Rochester,  N.  Y.  On  the  receipt 
of  the  monev  from  Worcester,  I  immediately  paid  the  balance 
of  four  dollars  due  on  board  bill,  redeeming  my  clothes,  and 
leaving  me  two  dollars  for  traveling  expenses.  As  soon  as  I 
got  my  goods  out  of  the  possession  of  my  former  boarding 
master,  I  bade  him  good-by  and  started  for  the  pier.  This 
was  on  the  night  of  the  same  Friday  I  received  the  money. 

I  sought  the  captain  of  the  boat  that  left  Saturday  even- 
ing, and  asked  him  to  allow  me  to  work  my  way  to 
Rochester,  N.  Y.  He  quickly  replied  :  "No;  he  would  not 
allow  it."  I  took  out  the  letter  I  had  received  that  day 
from  Worcester,  Mass.,  containing  an  account  of  my  wife's 
sickness,  and  requesting  him  to  read  it.  He  did  so,  and  I 
informed  him  how  I  was  compelled  to  pay  away  what  money 
I  had  received.  The  letter  with  my  pleadings  moved  his 
sympathy  towards  me ;  he  turned  and  said,  I  could  go  but 
that  I  should  have  to  work  every  hour  of  the  time.  I  said 
his  sympathy  was  towards  me,  but  that  only  went  as  far  as 
being  on  board  the  steamboat ;  I  had  to  pay  by  hard  work 
and  no  sleep.     I  was  content  to  comply  with  his  demands ; 


AS    A    SLAVE.  61 

I  had  started  for  home,  and  could  not  pay  for  my  traveling 
expenses  with  money,  so  would  have  to  pay  it  by  labor.  He 
told  me  to  go  to  the  steward  and  get  my  supper,  which  T  did. 
That  was  Friday  night,  and  Saturday  morning  T  went  to 
work  helping  to  load  the  steamboat.  This  work  continued 
until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  appointed  time  for 
the  boat  to  start. 

At  the  hour  designated  we  left  the  pier  and  was  stop- 
ping at  different  places  off  and  on  all  night,  putting  off  and 
taking  on  freight  and  passengers  until  eight  o'clock  Sunday 
morning,  when  we  arrived  in  Rochester.  I  had  not  taken 
off  my  clothes  or  taken  a  wink  of  sleep  all  night.  Being 
tired  and  sleepy  after  a  day  and  night's  hard  toil,  I  took 
a  conveyance  and  went  to  hunt  for  a  lodging  house,  and  my 
search  was  soon  found.  I  went  to  bed  and  slept  soundly 
until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  When  I  landed  iu 
Rochester  I  was  the  owner  of  two  dollars  and  no  more.  This 
was  the  extent  of  my  cash  account.  It  cost  me  twenty-five 
cents  for  conveyance,  and  fifty  cents  for  lodging  and  dinner. 
Here  I  was  in  the  western  part  of  New  York  state,  miles 
from  the  city  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  my  place  of  destination, 
with  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  to  purchase  a  railroad 
ticket. 

I  went  to  the  depot  and  inquired  the  fare  to  Worcester, 
and  was  informed  it  would  be  fifteen  dollars.  My  readers 
who  may  have  been  placed  in  such  a  predicament  can  have 
some  idea  of  the  situation  and  can  extend  some  sympathy ; 
and  those  who  have  not  may  draw  upon  their  imagination 
and  perhaps  gain  a  faint  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  an 
almost  penniless  traveler.  With  wishful  eyes  I  gazed  at  the 
departing  trains  with  their  freight  of  living  beings,  but  that 


62  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

was  only  vexation  of  spirit  to  me,   and  a  force  of  circum- 
stances beyond  my  control. 

Worcester  and  my  sick  wife  loomed  up  before  me  de- 
manding my  appearance.  To  purchase  a  ticket  was  im- 
possible, to  beg  one  was  decidedly  out  of  the  question.  At 
last  I  concluded.it  was  no  use  of  tarrying  any  longer  in  that 
place.  My  feet  and  legs  had  done  me  good  service  in  my 
flight  from  Chestertown,  Maryland  to  Philadelphia,  Penn. 
I  now  made  up  my  mind  to  trust  to  them  at  this  time  to 
reach  my  home,  so  off  I  started  with  the  determination  to 
walk  to  Worcester.  It  was  about  half  past  five  P.  M.  with 
my  knapsack  on  my  back,  I  started  on  my  long  tedious 
inarch  without  friend,  guide  or  compass.  I  followed  the 
railroad  track  going  east  as  a  conductor  on  the  way.  Soon 
night  began  to  spread  its  dark  mantle  around  me,  yet  undis- 
mayed, I  pressed  forward  deeply  occupied  with  thoughts  of 
the  future.  Midnight  came  in  its  stillness  finding  me  still 
widening  the  distance  between  myself  and  the  Rochester 
depot.  Midnight  passes,  the  small  hours  of  the  morn  in- 
crease, until  at  last  the  light  of  a  new  day  begins  to  dawn 
upon  the  world,  when  men  begin  to  rise  from  their  warm 
comfortable  beds  after  a  night  of  refreshing  sleep.  In 
rapid  flight  of  early  dawn,  the  king  of  day,  the  centre  of 
celestial  light,  rises  in  majestic  splendor  over  the  eastern 
hills,  indicating  the  cardinal  point  to  which  my  journey  lay. 
With  it  came  the  cheer  that  one  night  had  passed  away, 
shortening  the  distance  between  the  starting  point  and  that 
of  my  destination.  At  eight  o'clock  to  my  surprise,  I  found 
I  had  covered  a  distance  of  seventy-five  miles  that  night.  A 
night's  walk  without  a  halt  to  rest  or  refresh.  As  the  day 
began  to  grow  I  determined  to  change  my  road  of  travel.     I 


AS   A   SLAVE.  63 

now  abandoned  the  railroad  for  the  tow-path,  thinking  to 
facilitate  the  travel ;  but  I  soon  found  out  I  did  not  get  along 
so  fast.  My  feet  became  sore  and  lame,  the  continual  walk- 
ing was  beginning  to  manifest  itself  on  my  physical  constitu- 
tion; but  ambition  with  the  force  of  will  obviated  the  pain 
and  urged  the  man  of  suffering  and  disappointment  onward. 

After  continuing  in  this  condition  for  two  or  three  days, 
the  captain  of  a  canal  boat  asked  me  how  I  would  like  to 
ride  one  of  the  horses  at  night,  and  remain  on  the  boat 
during  the  day.  The  proposal  had  its  charms  for  me. 
There  would  be  a  chance  for  sleep  during  the  day,  there  was 
an  opportunity  for  a  good  warm  meal,  and  at  night  to  sit  on 
the  horse's  back.  The  offer  was  accepted  and  I  went  on 
board  the  boat. 

The  first  night  passed  off  without  anything  to  cause 
alarm  or  to  hinder  the  work.  In  the  morning  I  did 
a  little  work  on  the  boat,  got  my  own  breakfast  and  sought 
to  lie  down  and  sleep.  Ou  the  second  night  I  resumed  my 
task,  mounted  the  horse,  who  with  slow,  steady  tread, 
tramped  out  the  time  allotted  him.  Night  wore  on,  all  on 
board  the  boat  was  stillness  ;  all  had  retired  for  the  night  to 
enjoy  Nature's  refreshing  invigorator,  sleep.  As  the  light 
of  early  dawn  lifted  the  curtain  of  night,  so  that  surrounding 
objects  could  be  distinctly  descerned,  it  brought  another  gleam 
of  light,  for  I  was  so  much  farther  advanced  on  my  journey, 
and  had  enjoyed  a  little  sleep  and  rest.  We  had  reached 
Utica,  N.  Y.  The  time  would  soon  come  when  I  should 
dismount  my  horse  to  betake  myself  to  the  boat  for  rest  and 
sleep.  Sometimes  it  is  remarkable  easy  to  plan  out  a  few 
hours  or  days,  but  they  are  not  as  soon  brought  to  perfection. 
Difficulties  in  some  form  are  apt  to  appear  before  us  and  im- 


Gt  LIFE    OF    ISAAC    31  AXON 

pede  our  progress.  Surprises  are  constantly — well  nearly 
so — approaching  us.  There  is  the  agreeable  and  disa- 
greeable. Well  there  was  a  surprise  in  reserve  for  this 
morning.  I  leave  my  reader  to  judge  whether  it  was  a 
disagreeable  or  agreeable  one  after  I  have  related  it. 

As  we  drew  near  a  bridge  under  which  we  had  to  pass, 
I  cast  my  eyes  upwards  and  to  my  utter  surprise  and  aston- 
ishment what  should  I  see  but  the  form  of  a  man  looking 
down  on  me.  How  quickly  I  remembered  those  well  known 
features.  The  man  who  live  years  ago  was  my  master,  who 
held  me  in  the  bonds  of  slavery,  who  had  cut  and  slashed 
my  back  ;  from  whom  I  had  fled  to  enjoy  the  pure  air  of 
liberty. 

He  did  not  recognize  me,  but  I  did  him,  and  that  was 
enough  for  the  hunted.  I  at  once  took  in  the  whole  situa- 
tion of  the  present  and  future.  I  felt  positive  he  was  hunt- 
ing for  me.  To  remain  long  exposed  to  his  gaze  would  cause 
me  danger  and  trouble.  I  dropped  my  head  to  conceal  my 
face  from  his  longing,  anxious  eyes,  and  as  soon  as  I  had 
gone  out  of  his  sight,  I  dismounted  the  horse,  went  on  board 
the  boat,  got  my  lit  le  bundle  of  goods  and  left  the  boat  and 
horses  in  a  great  hurry.  I  did  not  see  the  captain  or  any  of 
the  hands  as  they  were  all  asleep,  and  I  had  no  time  to  call 
them.  The  horses  were  left  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and 
go  on  of  their  own  accord,  as  far  as  I  know.  These  moments 
with  me  were  most  precious  for  self  preservation.  The 
hunter  was  on  my  track,  had  seen  but  not  scented  out  my 
course.  The  necessity  of  the  hour  compelled  me  to  be  as 
agile  as  a  hare  and  as  cunning  as  a  fox. 

I  took  to  the  main  road  intending  to  continue  my  journey 
on  foot  the  remainder  of  the  way.     Once  more  I  found  iny* 


AS   A    SLAVE.  65 

self  aloue,  with  the  end  of  my  destination  before  me  and  not 
the  means  to  buy  the  cheapest  means  of  travel ;  depending 
upon  the  charity  of  the  world.  With  a  spirit  of  determin- 
ation and  courage  I  pressed  forward  hour  after  hour  in  the 
cheering  light  of  day.  Night  overtakes  me,  a  weary  traveler, 
without  shelter  or  food.  To  lie  down  and  rest  I  could  not, 
in  fact  rest  had  no  charms  for  me  in  this  lonely  journey. 
Worcester  and  those  who  were  all  to  me  in  this  life  were 
anxious  companions  of  my  nocturnal  travel.  Saturday  night 
I  found  myself  at  the  railroad  station  in  the  city  of  Albany, 
N.  Y.  Crossing  the  ferry,  a  thunder  storm  coming  up 
suddenly,  I  took  shelter  in  an  inviting  freight  car,  which 
was  standing  conveniently  near  the  landing.  I  sat  down, 
or  rather  lay  down,  to  rest  and  await  the  conclusion  of  the 
storm,  but  tired  and  weary  nature  asserted  her  rights, 
and  I  was  soon  fast  asleep.  When  I  awoke  I  found  the  car 
had  been  traveling,  and  I  became  somewhat  alarmed,  as  I 
did  not  know  the  route  I  had  been  going,  or  where  I  might 
possibly  be.  But  my  doubts  were  soon  dispelled,  for  the 
car  stopped  at  a  way  station  and  switched,  so  getting 
out,  and  looking  up  to  the  sun  I  soon  discovered  that 
I  had  been  traveling  in  the  right  direction,  and  upon 
inquiry  found  that  I  had  come  ten  miles  due  east  on  my 
direct  road  to  Worcester.  The  day  being  Sunday  I  strayed 
out  to  a  camp  meeting  of  colored  people  and  had  a  pleasant 
time  with  them. 

Finding  my  efforts  had  been  so  satisfactory,  my  hopes 
revived,  and  my  courage  enlivened  at  the  thought  of  soon 
ending  this  toilsome  labor.  Starting  off  again  Sunday  night, 
I  continued  my  travel  until  reaching  Worcester,  Mass., 
which  was  on  the  second  day  of  July,  1851,  just  two  weeks 


\ 

LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

from  the  day  I  went  on  board  the  steamboat  at  Toronto, 
Canada.  The  relief  of  over  exertion,  of  physical  fatigue, 
mental  anxiety  and  the  privation  of  natural  comforts  are 
better  felt  and  appreciated  in   thought  than    expressed   in 

words. 

Having  again  joined  my  family  and  friends,  I  concluded 
to  remain  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  or  I  may  say  to  make  it  my 
home,  as  I  had  not  found  a  place  in  preference.  It  was  not 
long  before  I  found  plenty  of  good  employment  and  benevo- 
lent sympathizers,  and  for  forty-three  years  Worcester  has 
been  my  residence. 


CHAPTER    V. 

A  Flying  Visit  to  Hayti. 

Being  at  this  age  a  man  of  an  enterprising  turn  of  mind 
and  inclined  to  be  somewhat  of  an  adventurer,  or,  as  some  of 
my  readers  will  say,  only  extending  an  acquired  habit,  I  was 
ready  to  enter  upon  any  new  enterprise  that  might  hold  out 
inducements  for  benefiting  my  condition  or  the  advancement 
of  the  human  family.  For  the  purpose  of  furthering  those 
ambitious  ideas  I  sought  the  fraternity  of  the  best  and  most 
popular  societies  as  a  means  to  carry  out  that  end. 

Coming  thus  far  in  my  history  there  is  a  portion  of 
my  life  that  is  connected  with  a  foreign  land,  and  I  can 
not  refrain  from  adding  it  here.  In  the  year  1859,  Mr. 
James  Kedpath  went  to  Hayti,  and  while  there  made 
arrangements  to  emigrate  as  many  colored  people  from  the 
United  States  to  that  island  as  he  could  induce.  He  re- 
turned to  this  country  and  through  his  influence  a  large 
number  of  persons  became  interested  in  the  emigration 
scheme,  that  during  that  year  he  sent  two  or  three  vessel 
loads  of  human  freight  to  the  foreign  isle.  Early  in  the 
following  year  he  sent  more  from  New  York,  Providence  and 
Boston.  He  succeeded  in  making  arrangements  so  that  all 
emigrants  should  be  landed  free  of  charge.  He  also  further 
arranged  with  the  Haytian  government  that  such  emigrants 
arriving  in  their  country  should  receive  sixteen  days 
provisions  from  the  time  of  landing.  I  heard  so  much  about 
this  country  and  the  prospects  it  held  out  to  such  enter- 
prisers, and  the  possibility  of  soon  becoming  well-to-do  there 
67 


68  LIFE    OF   ISAAC    MASON 

that  I  concluded  there  might  be  a  possible  chance  for  me  to 
enjoy  a  part  of  its  wealthy  production.  Time  and  heresay 
increased  the  desire,  and  I  finally  thought-  of  going  to  see  the 
land  of  milk  and  honey  for  myself.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Eedpath, 
the  agent,  informing  him  of  my  intentions,  and  also  stating 
that  I  preferred  to  pay  my  own  expenses.  His  answer  came 
stating  that  my  application  and  wishes  were  accepted.  No 
time  was  wasted  in  making  the  necessary  preparations  for 
the  voyage.  May  14th,  1860,  found  me  with  an  anxious 
number  standing  on  Liverpool  wharf,  Boston,  Mass.,  waiting 
to  embark  on  the  schooner  Pearl,  commanded  by  captain 
Porter.  Oar  vessel  was  not  of  sufficient  capacity  to  accom- 
modate the  number  about  to  go.  There  were  seventy-five 
emigrants,  five  cabin  passengers,  including  myself,  and  a 
crew  consisting  of  five  ;  too  large  a  number  to  be  assigned  to 
a  small  schooner.  About  5  P.  m.,  we  sailed  out  of  the 
harbor  in  search  of  southern  islands  and  southern  wealth. 

That  night  we  experienced  a  very  severe  gale,  lasting 
the  whole  night.  The  next  morning,  Sunday,  found  us  in 
much  sadness.  It  revealed  the  horrors  of  the  previous 
night.  Not  in  the  rented  sails  or  strained  ropes,  but  its 
deadly  effects  upon  a  human  creature.  Among  the  number 
that  embarked  with  us  the  day  previous  was  a  young  lady 
full  of  bright  anticipations  and  apparently  hale  and  hearty, 
going  to  seek  a  living  in  a  foreign  land,  now  lying  before 
us  cold  and  lifeless.  The  howling  winds,  the  raging  billows 
and  the  rolling  vessel  during  the  night  proved  a  monster  too 
strong  for  her.  Overpowered  with  exhaustion  and  fright  of 
being  a  castaway  upon  the  ocean  deep,  she  falls  a  victim  to 
death.  Others  became  severely  ill  and  were  made  speechless 
for  a  time  from  the  ordeal  of  that  night.     I  considered  my- 


AS   A   SLAVE.  69 

self  to  be  one  of  the  fortunate  ones  in  not  experiencing  any 
siekness  or  fear.  During  the  gale  our  two  small  boats  and 
galley  were  washed  away  from  the  deck.  Sunday  was  a 
beautiful  day,  all  that  could  be  desired  to  raise  our  hopes 
and  quell  our  fears  of  the  return  or  approach  of  another 
such  storm.  During  the  voyage  of  four  weeks  and  four 
days  after  the  Saturday  night's  storm  nothing  eventful 
occurred;  all  was  pleasant  and  cheerful.  As  is  always  cus- 
tomary for  travelers  seeking  for  homes  in  distant  lands, 
speculation  and  expectation  were  the  chief  subjects  of  con- 
versation. 

When  the  land  of  our  destination  was  reached,  and 
owing  to  the  lateuess  of  the  day,  the  captain  was  prevented 
from  having  the  vessel  securely  moored  to  the  pier  that 
night,  consequently  our  anchorage  had  to  be  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  shore.  As  we  were  not  in  a  sheltering  harbor, 
we  became  exposed  to  the  gales.  As  the  angry  elements 
united  to  bid  us  farewell  from  Massachusetts  shores,  so  ap- 
parently they  had  agreed  to  welcome  us  to  Haytian  lands  ; 
for  that  night  the  winds  became  exceedingly  angry,  tossing 
and  forcing  our  craft  before  it  with  such  pressure  that  our 
fears  and  anxieties  of  safety  were  greatly  increased.  At  last 
the  increasing  power  of  the  gale  caused  the  chain  to  part; 
but  fortunately  the  wind  blew  from  the  shore  and  we 
were  driven  to  sea.  If  the  wind  had  been  blowing  from  a 
different  direction,  it  is  probable  that  the  schooner  and 
all  on  board  would  have  been  lost  that  night.  It  took  us 
two  days  to  return  and  cast  a  second  anchor  and  prepare  for 
landing. 

When  we  went  ashore  the  natives  received  us  very  hos- 
pitably, which  made  us  feel  that  we  were  not  intruders,  but 


70  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

welcome  aliens.  The  weather  was  so  exceedingly  hot  that  it 
seemed  impossible  for  living  creatures  to  exist  there.  Of 
course  we  just  arrived  from  a  northern  climate,  and  would 
consequently  feel  the  change  more  readily  than  one  who  had 
become  accustomed  to  it.  On  inquiry  I  learned  that  the 
death  rate  averaged  from  thiee  to  four  per  day.  This  was 
not  very  pleasing  information  to  be  made  known  to  those 
who  came  seeking  a  permanent  home.  At  a  place  called  St. 
Marks  there  were  settled  about  five  hundred  persons  that 
had  emigrated  to  Hayti  at  different  times.  The  natives  were 
mostly  of  Eoman  Catholic  persuasion.  Sundaj7  with  them 
was  a  great  day.  I  suppose  it  might  have  been  termed  a 
weekly  holiday  :  and  they  seemed  to  have  an  order  of  exer- 
cises for  the  day,  and  it  was  somewhat  after  the  fol- 
lowing order :  first  they  would  turn  out  by  thousands,  have 
a  military  drill  :  second,  they  would  all  go  to  church  and 
perform  their  religious  services ;  third,  then  would  follow 
a  dance.  The  rest  of  the  day  was  then  spent  iu  all  kinds 
of  amusements.  These  exercises  seemed  significant  to  their 
habits  and  customs.  The  drill  indicative  to  their  war-like 
habits,  the  church  the  respect,  if  not  the  piety  for  the  Deity; 
the  dance  as  tokens  of  victory  achieved,  ending  the  day  with 
diversion  to  fill  out  the  time. 

The  women  do  or  are  made  to  do  the  work  of  men  at 
home  and  general  laboring.  They  also  had  to  do  a  part  of 
military  duty,  such  as  keeping  guard  in  defence  of  the 
country  in  times  of  peace  as  well  as  in  war.  The  people  are 
very  small  or  generally  of  medium  size,  and  of  a  general 
healthy  apj>earance.  I  did  not  see  any  cripples  among  them 
The  women  are  not  forced  to  do  hard  work  because  they  are 
bad    looking ;    for    on    the    contrary    they   are    handsome. 


AS    A   SLAVE.  71 

Among  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  may  be  noticed  the 
manner  in  which  they  slay  animals  for  food.  When  an 
ox  is  to  he  prepared  he  is  taken  to  the  burying  ground,  and 
there  it  is  beaten  until  all  the  blood  is  out  of  it.  If  it  is  a 
chicken  they  first  pray  over  it.  If  it  is  a  hog,  its  head  is 
chopped  off  on  a  log  of  wood.  These  seemed  to  be  the  gen- 
eral methods  of  slaughtering. 

The  fertility  of  the  island  was  of  the  highest  order.  It 
was  so  productive  that  cotton  and  all  kinds  of  vegetables 
grew  without  any  great  degree  of  labor  to  cultivate.  To  en- 
courage emigration,  and  to  introduce  foreign  enterprises  and 
customs  into  Hayti,  the  government  had  given  to  all  emi- 
grants the  exclusive  use  of  Artibinique  Eiver,  and  the  lands 
surrounding  it.  This  settlement  was  about  five  miles  from 
St.  Marks.  Each  emigrant  was  entitled  to  sixteen  acres  free. 
One  day  four  others  with  myself  hired  horses,  and  rode  out 
to  see  the  situation  and  examine  the  land.  As  to  the 
land  everything  seemed  hopeful,  but  when]  we  came  to  talk 
with  some  that  had  settled  there,  it  was  found  that  some- 
thing more  than  good  soil  was  needful  to  ensure  safety  and 
to  produce  grain.  We  were  told  that  the  winds  at  times  were 
so  terrific  that  houses  were  carried  away  before  them,  and  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  keep  oneself  on  the  land  during  the 
gale. 

After  long  and  patient  struggling  of  those  hard  deter- 
mined toilers  of  the  soil,  the  whole  project  proved  a  failure 
and  had  to  be  abandoned.  Not  only  were  the  winds  a  bar- 
rier to  their  prospects,  but  the  burning  rays  of  the 
sun,  was  more  than  strangers  could  live  under.  At 
times  (and  that  frequently)  the  thermometer  would  register 
1752  in  the  shade.     During  my  stay  there  I  was  taken  very 


72  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

ill,  and  at  one  time  life  was  despaired  of  by  those  who  went 
out  with  me.  Some  of  those  kind-hearted  fellow  travelers 
stood  around  my  sick  bed  expecting  every  moment  to  see 
me  breathe  my  last.  While  I  was  lying  in  this  uncertain 
condition,  one  of  the  native  women  passing  by  my  door 
took  in  the  situation  ;  for  I  was  partially  unconscious  and 
my  lips  firmly  closed,  so  I  learned  afterwards.  She  took  the 
peel  of  an  orange,  (the  white  inner  part)  and  poured  boiling 
water  on  it,  opened  my  mouth  and  poured  it  in.  In  less 
than  ten  minutes  my  lips  began  to  move,  and  from  that  time 
a  change  for  the  better  was  manifested,  and  my  restoration 
to  health  soon  followed.  I  have  great  reason  in  commending 
the  skill  of  that  woman  who  saved  my  life,  and  my  body 
from  being  buried  beneath  the  burning  sands  of  a  tropical 
clime.  I  believed  then  and  have  since,  in  that  illness 
my  end  was  near,  but  restoration  was  possible,  and  it 
came   by  the  hand  of  a  Haytian  doctress. 

When  recovering  frcm  this  fit  of  sickness,  one  Sunday 
morning  I  took  a  walk  out,  slowly  measuring  my  feeble  steps, 
while  my  eyes  roved  from  one  object  to  another,  and  they 
were  attracted  to  the  various  flags  floating  in  the  air,  rep- 
resenting all,  or  nearly  all  the  nations.  The  sight  of  them 
enlivened  me  and  as  I  paused  to  view  them  closely  there 
seemed  to  be  one  that  surpassed  them  all  for  splendor;  and 
that  was  the  stars  and  stripes  of  America.  Its  granduer 
was  such  that  I  felt  a  spirit  of  national  pride  for  it,  that  I 
had  never  felt  before. 

After  recovering  from  my  sickness,  I  turned  my  thoughts 
more  towards  this  emigration  scheme  determined  to  find  out 
if  it  was  good  or  evil,  if  there  was  anything  in  it  or  not  for 
the  good  of  uiy  race.     There  was  a  large  number  that  bad 


AS    A    SLAVE.  73 

been  misled  to  emigrate  there ;  they  had  no  money  to  carry 
them  there,  and  no  means  of  procuring  any  to  bring  them 
back.  If  they  had  been  required  to  pay  their  way  out  there, 
they  could  not  have  gone.  After  getting  there  they  could 
not  work  or  live,  because  they  were  not  acclimated,  and  many 
died.  With  the  knowledge  of  all  this  before  me,  what  must  be 
be  my  conclusion?  That  it  was  misleading  of  the  innocent  by 
the  false  representation  of  a  canning  plotter.  To  me  it  was 
false  and  evil  to  the  race,  and  by  me  it  was  denounced.  My 
conclusions  were  made  and  they  were,  if  possible,  to  re- 
turn home  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  so  I  informed  my  com- 
panions and  others.  As  Captain  Porter  had  not  sailed  for 
the  north,  but  would  do  so  on  the  latter  part  of  July,  I  de- 
termined to  be  one  of  the  number  that  his  craft  should  con- 
vey home.  Before  leaving  I  had  placed  in  my  hands  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  letters  from  the  emigrants  to  be 
forwarded  to  their  friends  in  different  parts  of  America. 
They  all  went  through  the  Post  Office  in  Worcester  to  their 
destination.  Their  personal  contents  were  not  known  to  me, 
but  my  return  and  the  expressions  contained  in  these  letters 
broke  up  Haytian  emigration.  When  Mr.  Redpath  found 
out  my  determination  to  return,  he  persuaded  and  threatened 
against  my  leaving ;  and  when  he  found  his  arguments  were 
of  no  avail,  he  tried  to  buy  me  over  to  his  cause,  but  it  was 
all  in  vain,  for  I  was  determined  that  this  scheme  should  be 
exposed  and  destroyed.  To  carry  out  this  intention  I  pub- 
lished it  in  the  Worcester  daily  papers  showing  that  it  was 
only  a  premature  graveyard  for  the  race.  That  out  of  the 
five  thousand  who  emigrated  there  under  the  Redpath 
scheme,  two-thirds  fell  victims  to  disease  and  death. 

The  superstitious  would  have  said  that  the  waiting  and 


74  LIFE    OF   ISAAC   MASON 

welcome  gales  were  bad  omens.  Well  they  seemed  so  for 
the  fury  of  the  elements  set  their  fury  against  it.  The  home- 
ward voyage  was  not  like  the  outward  for  we  returned  on 
the  last  day  of  August  to  the  city  of  Boston,  Mass.,  on  peace- 
ful seas  and  gentle  winds,  which  characterized  the  whole 
passage. 

When  I  arrived  at  my  home,  I  returned  thanks  to  the 
Lord  for  his  mercy  to  me,  sparing  my  life  through  the 
perils  of  the  storm,  from  the  perils  of  the  heat,  through 
the  perils  of  sickness,  and  from  the  perils  of  death.  I  then 
made  up  my  mind  that  Worcester  should  be  my  future  home, 
and  here  I  should  dwell  until  the  end  of  my  days. 


